By ANNA USHER

Community Bank Mosman will close its doors for the last time at noon on Friday, 29 May, ending nearly 17 years of community banking at Spit Junction.

The Warringah Financial Services Limited (WFSL) board has voted to sell the business to Bendigo Bank, which will take over banking services for the remaining customers.

“This decision takes into consideration sustained changes in customer banking behaviour and declining in-branch transactions,” a spokesperson for Bendigo Bank told Mosman Collective.

“The Bank is in the process of communicating this network change to customers via email and SMS.”

The spokesperson said Customers can continue to transact face-to-face at Freshwater and Bendigo Bank Dee Why branches.

Mosman’s Community Bank had been under financial pressure for years.

As far back as 2019, then-chairman Mark Alderson was warning shareholders that the outlook was difficult.

“After 10 years, we are very conscious of the lack of profit and lack of dividends,” he wrote in the 2019 Annual Report.

A spike in interest rates briefly turned things around, with profit surging to $589,966 in FY2023, but it didn’t last, and by FY2025, profit had collapsed 68 per cent to just $63,024.

When the company renewed its Spit Junction lease in July 2024, it signed for just two years, with no extension options.

At the time, incoming chairman Matt McGuire told shareholders the board was “looking at several options” for the branch’s future. He did not mention closure among them.

According to figures in the closure notice, the branch had been losing ground for years. Cash withdrawals fell from 885 to 633 between FY2022-23 and FY2025-26.

Of the customers who remain, 76 per cent are registered for e-banking, and just 15 per cent rely on the branch.

More than 122 accounts had already moved elsewhere before the closure was announced.

Despite financial pressures, the branch gave more to the local community in its final year than ever before, distributing $35,094 in sponsorships and grants, up 60 per cent on the year before.

Recipients included Mosman Netball, Mosman Cricket Club, Mosman Physie, Middle Harbour Public School, Beauty Point Public School P&C, Long Reef Surf Lifesaving Club and Impact100 Sydney.

Whether those commitments continue after the wind-up is not yet clear.

“The decision to close a branch is not something we take lightly, as we know how important banking and financial services are to Australian communities,” the spokesperson said.

What you need to know

The Mosman Post Shop (846-850 Military Road) offers Bank@Post services until and after closure.

Personal banking customers can call 02 9960 7122 or email [email protected] before 29 May. Business banking customers should call 1300 236 344.

You can find more information on the closure HERE.

Disclosure: Community Bank Mosman advertised with Mosman Collective in FY2024.