A Queensland town left without full banking services is taking steps towards opening its own community bank. In the past year, the farming town of Nanango, two hours' drive north west of Brisbane, has witnessed the 'big three' banks close or downgrade their services. The Commonwealth Bank has shut its doors, the National Bank has reduced its presence to a service centre and Westpac has relocated its branch into an in-store facility, forcing residents to travel 25 kilometres to Kingaroy to do anything more complex than withdrawals and deposits, including business banking. "After the Commonwealth left, we did a survey which showed the town would be at risk if it did not have a bank," says Wendy Zerbst, chair of the Community Based Banking Committee, which has been established to develop a proposal for a community facility. "To see about a loan, you have to go to Kingaroy, 25 kilometres away. It's not far to travel, but people end up spending their money there as well, which ends up hurting the town." Rather than accepting defeat, the community took the situation into its own hands and decided to open a community banking facility. This goal now looks like being realised following yesterday's announcement by Toowoomba-based Heritage Building Society that it will work with the town's community banking committee to install a facility by the end of the year. The joint venture with Heritage will provide full banking facilities, including ATM, over-the-counter service and a full-time manager. Another full-time staff member and two part-time staff are likely to be needed to provide the personal, business and rural banking services. The committee is looking at sites in the town for the facility and will invite locals to become members of a community-owned company to raise the $100,000 needed to set up the branch. Half the profits will go into a community trust to be distributed to local organisations.