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#029 - 900 Rural Bank Branches Gone (Regional Banking Crisis) · Dollars In The Dirt

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  In the last nine years, 900 bank branches have closed in
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  regional Australia. The big banks are pocketing $1 billion a
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  year in savings while abandoning the bush. Most
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  people think this is just an inconvenience, a sign of the times, as
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  everything moves online. Well, the truth is, for agricultural producers,
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  this is a massive business consistency issue. And
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  when your local branch closes, you lose face-to-face relationships that
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  actually get complex deals approved. After helping hundreds
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  of farmers secure over a billion dollars in finance, I can tell
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  you that relying on a disappearing branch network is a massive risk.
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  So in this video, I'm going to break down the new alliance fighting against
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  these closures, what it means for your farm, and the three steps
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  Welcome to Dollars in the Dirt. I'm Brecon Curtis, and this is where
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  we break down the finance side of farming so you can grow your operation, buy
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  that next property, and build real wealth. Let's get into
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  The first thing you need to understand is the sheer scale of what's happening in
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  regional banking. The Regional Banking Investment Alliance, a
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  coalition of 24 regional banks and community supporters,
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  has just gone public with a damning report. In the last nine years,
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  there's been a 38% reduction in regional bank branches. That's
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  nearly 900 branches gone and around 4,000 local
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  jobs lost. The Alliance estimates that regional communities
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  are losing up to $1 billion a year in investment as a
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  direct result. And this is a structural shift that weakens the
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  access to trusted financial support in places that need it
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  most. The big banks will tell you that you can just use Bank It Post or
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  call a 1800 number. But if you're running a $10 million cattle
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  operation, you can't negotiate a complex equipment finance facility or
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  restructure your core debt over the counter at the local post office. You
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  need a relationship? point for lending, troubleshooting
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  and financial confidence. And when bank branches disappear, access
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  to decision makers becomes slower, more remote and
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  entirely transactional. The loss of local knowledge is
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  perhaps the most damaging aspect of these closures. A
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  local bank manager understands the district. They know the difference between a
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  property on the river and a block of scrub 10km away. They
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  understand the local weather patterns, the reliability of the local sale yards,
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  and the reputation of the families who have farmed there for generations. And
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  when that bank branch closes, your file is handed to a credit assessor in
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  a capital city. who relies entirely on algorithms and
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  a satellite map to make decisions about your livelihood. And
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  this brings us to the core issue, what the Alliance is fighting for, the
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  pass-through banking model. What's happening right now is
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  that regional banks are doing the heavy lifting for regional
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  communities, while the big banks take the profit. A
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  farmer might use a local regional bank for their day-to-day transactional needs
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  because it's the only branch left in town. But when it comes to write
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  the $5 million property loan, they go to the big four banks because they're
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  perceived to have scale or a slightly lower rate. So
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  the big banks are essentially free-riding on the physical infrastructure maintained
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  by the regional players. And they get the highly profitable lending business
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  without having to pay the overheads of keeping a branch open in a country town.
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  And the Alliance is pushing back because this model is unsustainable. And
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  if the regional banks are forced to close because they aren't getting the
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  lending business, the bush will be left with absolutely no face-to-face
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  banking presence. The current moratorium on branch closures only
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  covers the big four, and it expires in 2027. And it
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  really is just a Band-Aid, not a solution. This dynamic creates dangerous
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  vulnerability for producers. And if you're relying on a
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  major bank for your core debt, but they have no physical presence
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  in the regional town, you're entirely dependent on
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  their digital infrastructure and remote call centres. And if
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  a crisis hits, flood, fire, or a sudden market crash,
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  you don't have the local advocate to walk into the branch and fight for your
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  emergency funding or repayment holiday. You're just a number in
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  the queue. So what do you do when the local branch is gone? You
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  build a relationship that doesn't rely on a physical building. Farmers
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  need to protect their banking relationships early, before a closure forces
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  them to rebuild these connections under pressure. This is
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  where a broker becomes your consistent link to the lenders. We
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  don't replace the banks, we work with them on your behalf. A
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  good broker will give consistency, advocacy and access
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  to multiple lenders without relying on a local branch network
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  that might not be there tomorrow. My role as a broker is to be the
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  person who stays in your corner. A bank manager, well they rotate every
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  two or three years and now the branches themselves are closing. But
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  I'm not going anywhere. I keep the finance relationship moving
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  face to face. I understand your business, understand your
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  history and know exactly how to present your operation to
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  the credit departments sitting in Sydney or Melbourne. You don't need a
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  local branch if you've got a broker who acts as your dedicated financial
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  advocate and we bring the bank to you. Furthermore, a
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  broker provides a buffer against institutional policy changes. If
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  your current bank decides they want to reduce their exposure to the beef sector,
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  or if they change their lending criteria for agricultural land, a
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  local bank manager can't save you. They have to follow head
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  office policy. But a broker isn't tied to one institution. If
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  your bank's appetite changes, we simply pick up your file, take
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  it to the lender who's actively seeking agricultural businesses. We
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  provide the stability that the physical branch network used
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  to offer. So remember guys, A local branch isn't
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  just a place to deposit cash, it's a relationship point. If
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  your bank is abandoning your region, you need to take control of your financial
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  relationship. Don't wait until you need capital to realise
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  your bank manager is gone. If you're looking at purchasing a
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  new property, or you've got a finance deal in the works, and
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  you want a consistent, face-to-face partner to manage the
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  lenders for you, book a free call with me. The link's in the description,
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  and we'll work out the best way forward for your operation. Thanks