Beyond Bank is set to close its Ganmain branch. Photo: Coolamon Shire.
The town of Ganmain is set to lose its last remaining bank, with Beyond Bank to close its only branch in the town within months.
The financial service operated two days a week in a council building in Ganmain and three days a week in Coolamon, providing the only bank in each town.
But from June 2026, the Ganmain branch will shut.
“Beyond Bank is continually reviewing its branch network to ensure it delivers the best possible banking experience for members and their local communities,” a spokesperson said.
“In line with this approach, the bank is revitalising its presence in the Riverina with a new, full service branch at Coolamon that will be open five days a week.”
However, Advance Ganmain Committee chairman Guy Purcell doesn’t see it as a revitalisation.
“It’s a blow to our town. We’ve got this cohort of people that doesn’t have internet banking and don’t drive,” he said.
“There’ll be a flow-on effect; we’ve got some prominent businesses in the street and this will disadvantage them. A lot of community organisations still rely on cash floats, and they want somewhere close by to deposit their money.”
M Purcell said he could still remember when Westpac abandoned the town in the 1990s, and the community rallied together to retain financial services.
“In 2002, Wagga Wagga Mutual Credit Union opened a branch in Ganmain … a mutual organisation where member interests must be held paramount and the focus should be on the local community over profit – ‘people first’,” he wrote in a letter to Beyond Bank, who took over the credit union in 2013.
“We implore the relevant Beyond Bank Australia staff and decision-makers to meet with our community and listen to our concerns regarding this decision that seems to have been made without any member consultation.”
Mr Purcell said the bank paid very little rent to operate out of the council building, so maintaining a Ganmain presence would not have cost them much at all.
Several other Riverina towns have also lost their last remaining bank in recent years – including Jerilderie and Darlington Point – which were abandoned by Bendigo Bank in 2025.
Researcher Dale Webster has calculated there are now more than 600 country towns across Australia that no longer have a banking service.
She has criticised the Federal Government for conducting regular inquiries into banks but not doing anything meaningful to stop the demise of regional banking services.
Coolamon Shire Mayor David McCann took a diplomatic approach to the Ganmain closure.
“Council’s foremost priority is to ensure that face‑to‑face banking services are retained within our shire. While Beyond Bank is a business that must make its own commercial decisions, council will continue to engage with the organisation to better understand the factors behind this proposal and to advocate for the needs of our community,” he said.
Beyond Bank emphasised the positive aspects of the changing arrangements.
“In a further enhancement of its offering, the branch will provide members in Ganmain and Coolamon access to a full suite of banking products in a new location at 98-100 Cowabbie St, Coolamon that, importantly, also meets all accessibility requirements for members (discussions with the Coolamon Shire Council resulted in a decision that the current heritage-listed site was unable to be modified),” a spokesperson said.
“Face-to-face advice with professional bankers on complex transactions, wealth management and financial wellbeing will continue for Ganmain members through Beyond Bank’s mobile banking service and both its ATM and Bank@post facility will remain fully operational for everyday banking.
“The new Coolamon branch will be open for business in June.”
