ES&A (English, Scottish & Australian Bank, now ESANDA, and part of ANZ), were the first to introduce drive-through banking in Australia.
The original ES&A building was constructed in 1885, and designed by architects William Wardell and W L Vernon. It was built in the Camberwell Junction location to provide loans to the builders constructing homes in the area in the 19th century. After ES&A Bank merged with ANZ, the branch was sold to Henley's cars. The building remains today as a rare example of Wardell's bank architecture in gothic style.
A journalist from The Herald also drove through on opening day in 1954, reporting a play-by-play for readers perhaps a little nervous to try out such an innovation:
"I drove into the driveway from Burke Road, around the corner of the bank, and pulled up at a teller's window built out from the side wall. A sliding steel drawer moved out from the front of the window operated by the teller with a lever. I put my arm out of the car window, placed my cheque in the drawer and it moved back into the teller's cage. Through the bullet-proof glass I saw the teller take my cheque and check it. He spoke into a microphone. His voice came out of a grille in the cage front. He asked how I wanted the money and I replied by speaking normally towards the grille. The teller heard my voice but a person in a car behind me could not have heard it. The teller put the money in the drawer and sent it out to me."
He reported that the whole transaction took less than two minutes.
Text from SLVic.
