Bendigo moves in

AFTER several months without a single bank in town, Pomona can now look forward to the Bendigo Bank opening a local branch early next year.
Bendigo Bank will open an agency branch in Station Street in either January or February next year, and said the success of the bank will depend on the community’s support.
Earlier this year, the ANZ bank announced the closure of its Pomona branch, the only bank in Pomona, citing declining over-the-counter transactions as the reason.
The closure of ANZ sparked outrage from the local community who now have to travel to Cooroy to access a banking branch.
At the time, ANZ said transactions had fallen to less than half the average branch transactions in Queensland, with 70 per cent of customers in Pomona already using branches in other parts of the network.
Sunshine Coast Community Financial Services Ltd (SCCFSL) owns and operates the Cooroy, Marcoola and Tewantin Community Bank branches of Bendigo Bank, and will also operate the Pomona branch.
Company chairman Rick Cooper said the Pomona community spoke clearly about wanting to have a say in the town’s future.
“By sponsoring the Pomona King of the Mountain Festival for a number of years, we’ve been aware of Pomona’s desire to have a Bendigo Bank in town,” he said.
“It’s always been a great idea, but now the timing is right.”
Mr Cooper said the Bendigo Bank is establishing a great “track record” throughout Noosa, having already returned more than $500,000 to the Cooroy community since 2008 through the sponsorship of schools, community events and clubs.
“The bank has a great history of improving the banking experience because we focus on people, and we look forward to bringing that to Pomona,” Mr Cooper said.
Anticipated to open in late January or early February, the agency will be located at 3 Station Street, beside Lozza’s Rock ‘n’ Roll cafe. It will have its own ATM and will start opening three days a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 10am to 3pm.
The agency will have full banking and lending services, able to process home loans, personal loans, business lending and credit cards. There will also be opportunity to book in financial planning and business banking appointments.
Mr Cooper said that while the news was exciting, the success of the agency would depend on the Pomona community getting behind the venture.
“Our message is simple – the more support the Pomona agency receives, the more support we can give back to the community,” he said.
“Every savings or investment account, every home or personal loan, every insurance policy, and every product or service we offer, money goes back into the community. As one of the new agency’s customers, you not only make a decision that benefits you, you make one that benefits the whole community.”