Bank’s four-year commitment guarantees access for communities already stretched thin by a decade of closures
ANZ has committed to keeping every regional branch open until at least December 2030 – a pledge timed to coincide with the absorption of Suncorp Bank’s network and the retirement of that brand by mid-2027.
Under the commitment, ANZ will maintain a branch presence in every regional community where either ANZ or Suncorp Bank currently operates, with at least two branches in communities with populations above 100,000 and at least three where populations exceed 200,000. Following the integration, ANZ has committed to no regional branch closures until at least December 2030.
The announcement also includes a new branch in Bendigo – one of regional Victoria’s fastest-growing cities – and an offer to extend existing Suncorp Bank agency arrangements through to the same deadline.
What the data actually shows
According to APRA’s authorised deposit-taking institutions points of presence statistics for June 2026, the five biggest banks – ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, NAB, Westpac and Macquarie Bank – ran 1,805 branches nationally, down from 3,575 in June 2017, a fall of 49.5% in nine years. ANZ alone closed 404 branches over that period, the steepest proportional decline of the major banks at 58.7%.
Regional communities bore the heaviest losses. Across all lenders, regional and remote branches fell from 2,335 in 2017 to 1,434 by June 2026 — a reduction of 38.6%. The federal government, in announcing its own regional branch moratorium in February 2025, noted that 36% of regional bank branches had closed since 2017.
ANZ’s new commitment extends that government moratorium by more than three years for its own network.
What customers actually gain – and from whom
For the 1.2 million Suncorp Bank customers migrating to ANZ, the commitment delivers something concrete. Suncorp Bank customers will gain access to ANZ’s much larger national network, while ANZ customers will benefit from an enhanced regional presence, particularly in Queensland, where Suncorp Bank’s footprint is strongest. Two networks that previously served separate customer bases will, post-integration, serve each other’s customers as well.
But for borrowers who need a loan written and not just a branch to visit, the more meaningful shift has already happened through the broker channel. In communities like Lakes Entrance in Victoria’s East Gippsland, where just two banks now serve more than 5,000 residents, brokers have become the primary point of access for borrowers navigating the mortgage market.
They offer something a reduced branch network structurally cannot: access to dozens of lenders simultaneously, including specialist and non-bank lenders that fill the gaps where major bank products don’t apply, particularly for regional clients facing postcode restrictions on bridging finance or non-standard lending.
The legal framework reinforces that value. Under the best interests duty introduced through the National Consumer Credit Protection Act (NCCP Act), brokers are obligated to act in the client’s interest, an obligation that did not exist when borrowers had no choice but to walk into their nearest bank branch and speak to a lender’s own employee.
MFAA chief executive Anja Pannek has noted that when more than eight in ten new home loans are being facilitated by brokers, it reflects the trust consumers place in the channel and the value they see in expert guidance through an increasingly complex lending market.
