Bendigo Bank makes half billion then boots community groups

when a regional bank Viewers saw this as a slap in the face for IA, which had marketed itself as the “Community Bank” for decades, enlisting clubs and local groups to help with its PR, then suddenly abandoned them after making $515 million in profits. Dale Webster’s stunning September story.

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Bendigo Bank Since 2004, it has withdrawn from fundraising partnerships with community groups doing work for corporate subsidiaries.

Community initiative groups began to flounder when they received “termination notices” of agreements at the end of 2024 telling them the “connected communities” program would end the following month.

Final payments were made in February, and the groups, unable to find alternative funding sources, have since folded.

According to Bendigo Bank, the program has returned more than $18 million to community groups since its inception.

Commissions were paid for new accounts linked to “connected communities,” which were invested back into local projects.

But the bank told community groups it was reviewing this part of its business and decided the contributions were “not sustainable”.

The number of social initiatives affected by the cancellation is unknown, but the program was national.

Bendigo Bank recently announced Profit of $514.6 million.

It follows recent news that ten branches and 28 agencies will close in the coming months, leaving 22 regional towns without banking services.

From now on general manager Richard Fennell Bendigo Bank, which took over the retail banking division that controlled corporate and community banking in 2018, closed 95 branches and 70 agencies.

By doing so, he left 56 towns without banking services.

This figure is even higher (better?) than the current figure. National Australia BankThis makes it the worst of the 44 big four banks for leaving towns unbanked.

Dale Webster at the opening ceremony buyer Walkley Foundation Free Journalism Grant in Regional Australia. This article was originally It was published Open Regional and republished with permission. You can follow Dale on Twitter @TheRegional_au.

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