A spokesman for the Australian Banking Association said three-quarters of branches closed in the past year were in major cities.

“As customers across the country make the shift to digital banking, banks are increasingly shifting their resources and investment from bricks and mortar facilities to digital customer channels,” he said.

“Walking into a branch and talking to someone in-person can make all the difference for someone trying to get their life back on track.”

Salvation Army’s Sydney Streetlevel Mission leader

“Inevitably this shift in customer behaviour has seen the closure of branches in recent years with the vast majority of closures in urban areas.”

In Surry Hills, Westpac and the Commonwealth Bank have shut branches on Crown Street, while ANZ and St George closed branches on Oxford Street in Darlinghurst.

The impact has been felt by the Salvation Army’s Sydney Streetlevel Mission, which banks with Westpac.

“When it was open we found the Surry Hills branch team extremely helpful and witnessed them work closely with members of our Streetlevel community with care and dignity,” mission leader Mitchell Evans said. “This has been lost with these closures.”

Mr Evans said community members were spending money they do not have on transport to get to a branch “where they can speak with someone”.

“Many in our community struggle with technology so can’t use phone or internet banking,” he said. “This also includes those who can’t sit through long, complicated and frustrating phone banking systems.”

Wayside Chapel pastor Jon Owen said bank branches were important for vulnerable people facing issues such as homelessness, limited financial literacy, and mental and physical health concerns.

“Resolving a bank issue online or finding and using ATMs may seem like a simple process for some, but for the people we support it can be daunting and overwhelming,” he said.

“Walking into a branch and talking to someone in-person can make all the difference for someone trying to get their life back on track.”

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The Finance Sector Union’s national secretary Julia Angrisano said the closure of bank branches and the migration of customers to digital banking was a “major cost-saving strategy banks use to increase their already huge record profits”.

Ms Angrisano said the majority of front-line retail banking staff were women, “which means that the job losses due to branch closures disproportionately impacts them”.

“Closures have a devastating impact on local communities,” she said. “Jobs are lost, business is impacted, and another local service disappears.”