Steeped in gold rush and bushranger legend, the historic NSW town of Junee is made for a battle.
The Riverina town of 6500 is locked in a David and Goliath fight with the Commonwealth Bank, which announced it was closing Junee's last bank in September.
The Big Four banks have shut hundreds of country branches around Australia in recent years, attributing closures to increased digital services and a move to cashless transactions.
Junee residents are angry they will have to make a one-hour round trip to Wagga Wagga to do their banking, or use an ATM which charges fees.
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The council and business owners successfully delayed the closure by arguing the bank did not fulfil its obligations for an alternative service at the post office, which is not wheelchair accessible.
Junee council's general manager James Davis said the community wants a hearing with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority ahead of the expected March closure.
"If everybody was on board and happy to move online, then OK, but there are people out there feeling abandoned," Mr Davis told AAP.
"They see the bank as akin to a doctor or an accountant. They're important aspects of social cohesion."
The Junee closure was announced weeks before the federal government's Regional Banking Taskforce released its final report, recommending better consultation with rural communities where cash and lending are critical.
Westpac later announced it would shut branches across regional Queensland, Victoria, the NT, WA and South Australia.
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All major banks says they carefully review business cases for regional branches, and transition customers to post office services.
Junee wants to collaborate with other affected communities including Coober Pedy in South Australia, which will lose its only bank in February.
Coober Pedy council's chief executive David Kelly said businesses are threatened by the closure as the nearest banks are in Port Augusta or Alice Springs, both more than 500 kilometres away.
"It's the opal capital of the world. That and tourism represent big industries, who deal with serious sums of cash," Mr Kelly said.
Many in the region live on small withdrawals of cash using passbooks and they cannot afford to travel.
Australian fintech company Zeller is looking to fill the space left by banks, expanding its payment system to include free business transaction accounts and debit cards.
Many of its 30,000 customers are based in country areas, where business owners say they are let down by traditional banking, chief executive Ben Pfisterer said.
"Regional Australia is probably the one of the most entrepreneurial segments of our community," he said.
"If you're going to withdraw your services, you have to backfill that with better online and sign-up processes. We love that we're playing a small part."
Junee Licorice & Chocolate Factory general manager Rhiannon Druce said locals don't understand why the bank is closing while its population and housing market booms.
"If there is no banking in Junee, it just makes it harder for our businesses," Ms Druce said.
"It's not a town that's going backwards."
Australian Associated Press
