The BankSA branch at Kingston will remain open for the time being after being slated for closure by parent company Westpac.

It has postponed the planned closures of Kingston and seven of its branches across regional Australia, ahead of a federal Senate inquiry into the economic and social impacts of such closures.

The other “spared” branches to remain open during the inquiry include the Robinvale and Sale branches in Victoria; Denmark in Western Australia and Gatton, Cloncurry, Ingham and Tully in Queensland.

BankSA has closed six of its branches south of the River Murray in the past 15 years, citing declining patronage and a customer preference for online banking.

They were formerly located at Robe, Meningie, Tailem Bend, Keith, Penola and Tintinara.