The big banks are leaving regional Australia in droves and rural communities are paying the price.

This week, the only bank left in the small central Queensland town of Moura closed its doors for the last time.

It is one of seven ANZ branches across the state to shut up shop this year and residents say the closures are having a massive impact on their communities.

Leanne Stevens, who lives about 30 minutes from Moura on a cattle farm, said she switched to ANZ after the town's Westpac branch shut down.

"I'm a bit devastated, but not only for myself," she said.

"You've got kids that get jobs at the ANZ and elderly people who use it.

"We were told that people don't use the ANZ but every time I've gone into it, there's always at least a couple of people in the bank itself.

"It's horrifying really — it seems like we're going backwards, instead of forward."

Leanne Stevens wrote to the Government asking them to intervene in the Moura bank closure. ( ABC Capricornia: Emilia Terzon )

Ms Stevens is worried ANZ's Biloela branch — about 50 minutes' drive from Moura — will close next and then she'll have no option but going into Rockhampton, two hours away.

"Yes I could learn to use internet banking," she said.

"But I'm not the only one it impacts — there's businesses, it's a bigger picture."

Ms Stevens wrote to the Federal Government asking for intervention in the bank closure, but was told that the treasury cannot intervene a business decision.

"I don't see why they can't help out," Ms Stevens said.

"They try to intervene with everything else so why not the bank?"

Bank closure driving business away from struggling town

Business in Moura is struggling and locals say the bank closure will drive even more people away. ( ABC Capricornia: Emilia Terzon )

With the closure of ANZ's Moura branch, there is now no bank between Emerald — about three hours' drive north-west of Moura — and Biloela.

Local supermarket manager Teresa Evans said this will force business out of Moura.

"People that come from Theodore, or Bauhinia way, if they come in from the properties and want to do their banking and their shopping, they can't do that here now," she said.

"So they'll go to the nearest town, which is Biloela.

"We struggle to keep people here as it is."

Kate Saltner, who runs a transport business in Moura, said it is frustrating to see the town take another blow.

"It's hard, the whole community has been struggling for a while now, since the mining boom's gone down it has really struggled and people are feeling it," she said.

Banks turn attention to technology

Given the prevalence of online and mobile banking, experts say it comes as no surprise banks are focussing on improving the technology their customers use.

According to a report by KPMG, the four major banks in Australia spent a combined $4.2 billion in the 2017 financial year on technology.

In a statement, ANZ said customers in Moura are "using the branch less and less" and that it has seen a decrease in foot traffic of more than 32 per cent over the last four years.

Economist Professor John Rolfe, said banks are turning to automated systems to save money.

There are now no banks between Biloela and Emerald. ( ABC Capricornia: Maddelin McCosker )

"There is lots of pressure on banks to deliver profitability and one of the ways in which they can do it is to minimise their costs," he said.

"So smaller operations that are more costly are tending to close, and bigger operations are more viable."

In recent years regional Australia has seen the biggest cut to rural banking services since the 1990s.

Figures from last year showing that since early 2015 at least 237 regional branches closed between then and the end of 2016.

Twelve regional branches across the country have closed this year.