The people in and around Vunidawa now have access to banking without having to travel to the nearest town, Nausori, for their banking needs.

This is through Westpac Fiji’s In-store Merchant services launched in Vunidawa Village yesterday.

Dhan Raj Enterprise will be working with the bank to provide banking services to the people of Vunidawa and many other villages surrounding it.

Westpac Fiji general manager, Brett Hooker, said the villagers from rural and remote areas would definitely benefit from the services.

He also added the service would allow the selected merchant to offer certain banking services using the EFTPOS machine.

“The Vunidawa community including civil servants and the social welfare recipients of the area will no longer need to spend a whole lot of transportation cost to go to Westpac Suva or Nausori branch to do their banking,” he said.

It is understood people of the area end up paying around $100 to hire a carrier to travel to Nausori for banking purposes.

Westpac is the first bank in Fiji and the Pacific to provide In-store Banking or merchant services.

Mr Hooker said: “In-store is Westpac’s commitment to helping people bank at a time and a place that is convenient to them.

“It lets us deliver better service to our current customers and at the same time, expand access to banking that is fast, efficient, secured, convenient and affordable.

“It has provided the incentive for many Fijians to open a bank account as they will now have the convenience of accessing banking services closer to home.”

More convenience

Mr Dhan Raj said he was expecting sales to go up as a result of the introduction of the new services by Westpac.

“I know this new service will benefit all the residents here who had to travel and spend a large sum for travelling cost,” Mr Raj said.

Permanent Secretary for Ministry of iTaukei Affairs, Naipote Katonitabua, while addressing the community members commended the Westpac for extending their services to remote areas.

“One of the objectives of this government is to see that no one gets left behind, and this service again complements the objective of the government and we thank Westpac for this,” he said.

Sailosi Daveta, of Vunidawa, told the Fiji Sun he was grateful for the in-store services.

“The social welfare recipients, civil servants, residents of the Vunidawa and neighbouring villages will benefit as they will no longer have to travel to Westpac Nausori or Suva branch for the services,” Mr Daveta said.

Westpac currently has 60 in-store banking centres in the rural communities around Fiji.

Feedback:  kathrin.krishna@fijisun.com.fj