News comes amid aggressive push into business ending segment
Westpac intends to replace 200 teller roles for 200 roles in its home and business lending departments, according to an AFR report.
“This year we’ve invested in our digital first strategy to support our customers’ changing needs and our digital citizens focus,” general manager of retail banking, Damien MacRae, reportedly said in an email to staff.
“Over the coming year, we will appoint around 200 more lenders and bankers to achieve our home lending and small business ambitions. At the same time, we will need around 200 fewer tellers and personal bankers’ roles in retail banking,” he said.
Westpac will reportedly replace teller roles with concierges at its branches to assist customers in using the banking’s digital app or website.
The shift will reportedly cost $200 million in investment over the next three years into Westpac ATMs and branches.
The Finance Sector Union warned that the plans will ultimately end up eliminating tellers' roles, adding that some communities still rely on face-to-face banking.
“We try to keep as many employees in the Westpac Group as we can, through retraining and redeployment,” a Westpac spokesperson said in comments published by AFR.
It is the latest in a long line of job cuts at the major banks.
Earlier this month, NAB joined ANZ in a bruising week for the banking workforce, announcing more than 400 redundancies in its largest division and signalling further use of offshore centres in Asia.
Just one day before the NAB announcement, ANZ disclosed plans to shed 3,500 staff and wind back external contracting arrangements.
The job cuts highlight an industry under intensifying pressure to lift efficiency amid a hugely competitive mortgage market.
But Westpac’s move suggests an increasing focus on the higher-margin business-lending segment, when challenger banks and non-bank lenders have made substantial inroads in recent years.
Westpac has already signalled a tilt towards business lending in early September, unveiling a multi-year strategy that couples aggressive banker hiring with digital investment.
135 bankers have already been added in 2025, with Westpac confirming the creation of new business banking centres and an expanded regional footprint. The push is intended to reclaim ground lost over the past decade, when National Australia Bank dominated the sector and Commonwealth Bank strengthened its 'main bank' strategy.
Per Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) data, NAB commanded a 21.6% share of the business lending market as of July 2025, followed by CBA at 18.85% and Westpac at 16.1%.
