Latest data shows the extent bank and ATM decline in Orange and NSW

The trend comes with an uptick in electronic banking and a lower reliance on cash.

The data comes from APRA's Points of Presence data from June 2023 which showed that across the country the number of branches dropped by 11 per cent in the space of a year (30 June 2022-30 June 2023).

Of the Big Four Australian banks, Westpac closed the most number of branches in the last year, closing 167 branches across the country. This was followed by ANZ, Commonwealth Bank and NAB.

In total, the Big Four closed 375 banks over the last year, a decrease of 15 per cent.

The latest Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) consumer payment survey showed cash made up just 13 per cent of the number of all payments in 2022. This is more than half of what it was (27 per cent) in 2019.

But RateCity's research director Sally Tindall said while cash "is no longer king" it's "not dead in the water either".

"RBA statistics show over $8 billion is withdrawn from ATMs across the country every single month, confirming we're not a cashless society just yet," she said.

The majority of banking services have moved online but some customers still prefer face to face services and going physically into a bank for deposits or withdrawals, Ms Tindall said.

According to the RBA "high cash users" who use cash for 80 per cent of payments made up 7 per cent of Australians in 2022. That number according to the RBA has halved since 2019.

Most recently in Orange, over a decade after its closure was first mooted, the St George branch on Summer Street was closed. It has moved into the same building where Westpac is currently located, also on Summer Street.

While in 2020, after 11 years in Orange, Bendigo Bank closed its branch in the city.

And in 2021, Blayney mayor Scott Ferguson lashed a decision to close the Commonwealth Bank branch in his town as "extremely disappointing".

The Commonwealth Bank shut its branch in Molong at the same time, leaving the Cabonne centre without an in-person bank branch.

At the time, Commonwealth Bank's Regional General Manager Norm Swift said in a statement the branch has had a 37 per cent drop in transactions over the past five years and that customers who want over the counter services could still access them.

Calare MP Andrew Gee said following the closures: "The banks like to advertise what a great friend they are to Australian communities. Unfortunately, it seems the friendship comes to an end when branches aren't as profitable as they would like them to be."

Ms Tindall said "the move to online banking has caused banks to reassess their points of presence," she said.

"To counter this, some banks have decided to piggyback on existing facilities such as third-party ATM networks and Australia Post branches to provide customers with more access to basic services."

"Australia Post branches play an important role in keeping competition in the banking sector alive, because of the basic banking services they provide.

However at a Senates Estimates meeting this week, Australia Post CEO Paul Graham said it made "no sense" to have as many outlets as it previously did.

"We will never abandon the regions and rural Australia, but it makes no sense for Australia Post to keep the same number of post offices where there is a clear oversupply and where customers are simply not using the service," Mr Graham said.

Bank closures have also been the subject of a Senate Inquiry.

Ms Tindall said that with the inquiry receiving 566 submissions, "the issue of regional and remote branch closures is a significant one".

"Banks provide an important service in regional and remote communities that extends beyond the basic fundamentals of accepting and dispensing cash."

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