New era for Westpac and St George in Albury after bank shuts other branches

Ross Miller spoke at Westpac in Dean Street which officially opened with St George co-branding on Friday.

It followed the closure of the St George branch in Olive Street in June and Westpac's Lavington outlet last month.

"For a regional centre like Albury there will always be a need, or presence, for a physical banking site," Mr Miller said.

Albury MP Justin Clancy spoke at the opening of the refreshed branch on Friday.

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He told of the "absolute value" of the human element to banking, noting that for "many, many" people it was "still the primary source of banking".

About $500,000 has been spent on revamping the Dean Street branch which was first opened in 1937-38 as the Bank of NSW.

The institution first open at the address in 1899 after originally opened its doors in Albury in 1856.

A display of the bank's long links to Albury, including Border Morning Mail articles marking its Border centenary in 1956 are on show in the branch.

Personnel from Olive Street and Lavington now work at the site which has 13 staff in retail and eight in commercial which covers rural and business loans.

Westpac has 25,000 customers serviced by the branch, with 500 seen by tellers each week.

Mr Miller said it was important to retain the St George name because of its heritage in NSW and account holders' fondness for the brand which was taken over by Westpac in 2008.

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