Port Fairy's last bank committed to the long-term has vowed to work hard to fill the void after another bank announced it was exiting the town.
The Port Fairy and District Community Bank will be the only bank in town come the end of August, with the final installment playing out of a mad dash for the exit door by the major banks.
The Commonwealth Bank has announced it will close its branch in Sackville Street on July 30.
This comes on the back of ANZ also clearing out of Sackville Street in August and National Australia Bank leaving the town in 2018.
When the Port Fairy and District Community Bank opened its doors almost seven years ago, it was one of four banks in the town, with Westpac the only one of the big four banks without a branch.
The pitch to bring the community bank to town included that town's with community banks had not had adverse affects on other already established banks in the towns.
Research had in fact shown competition drove higher levels of community service and made the banking landscape in these towns more robust.
With three of the big banks now gone, Port Fairy and District Community Bank manager Andrew Long said the introduction of the community bank was in no way to blame.
"When you look at what is happening across Australia with the big four banks, it shows branches are closing everywhere," Mr Long said.
"The big banks have deemed the branch network too expensive to maintain, with the cost of people and infrastructure.
"They have gone to banking hubs and online services, they have made the decision they believe that meets their needs better."
Mr Long said the loss of another competitor was no cause for celebration.
He said his staff would work hard to help fill a void the loss of the Commonwealth Bank branch would bring with it.
"It is a shock the Commonwealth Bank has made the decision to close its Port Fairy branch," Mr Long said.
"The loss of another business is never good for the town, it is something you don't want to see.
"But we are ready to keep stepping up and providing a good service to the town.
"As a business, our edge is our product and customer service and we have to maintain and grow that and take nothing for granted."
Mr Long said the Port Fairy and District Community Bank was well placed with a viable business that is feeding good profit margins into the community. The community bank employs five full-time staff members.
The Commonwealth said Port Fairy staff would be redeployed, with no job losses.
