WEDDERBURN will be without a bank in February next year after ANZ’s announcement that it will close its branch.ANZ Wedderburn will be centralised to its parent branch at St Arnaud on February 24.The town will now look to set up a Bendigo Bank community branch.Loddon Shire mayor Gavan Holt said the closure was a blow to the community.“We’ve had 20 years of a drop in population in Wedderburn but we’re now on the way up. I just thought we were over all this rubbish,’’ he said.“I feel sorry for all the volunteers that make these small communities tick. I feel sorry for the traders – where are they going to go to deposit cash and get change?“There is a significant number of older people who will never switch to internet banking.’’Cr Holt said the substantial farming community in the district would also suffer.Wedderburn is home to Loddon Shire Council’s main office, which employs 160 people.Cr Holt said there was a push for a Bendigo Bank a couple of years ago but because ANZ had a presence in the town it meant another bank was not viable. He said ANZ’s excuse of not being viable was disappointing because he believed the bank didn’t help itself by not having a manager based at the branch.An ANZ bank spokeswoman said Wedderburn had always been a sub-branch of its parent branch in St Arnaud, and as such operated under reduced hours and limited services.“We had a detailed look at our operation in the area and the number of customers using the branch has unfortunately fallen quite dramatically over the years,’’ she said. The spokeswoman said the bank was in negotiations with the landlord about keeping the ATM at the premises.“Wedderburn customer accounts will be automatically transferred to St Arnaud to minimise any inconvenience and account numbers will remain unchanged. Customers can also arrange to have their accounts transferred to any other branch,’’ she said.“We recognise this will be an inconvenience for some customers in Wedderburn. Customers can use phone and online banking services.’’