Branch numbers in Australia fell five per cent in the year to June - a reduction of 315 branches - with remote communities taking the brunt of closures.According to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority's ADI Points of Presence survey, there were 5904 points of presence offering a "branch level of service" at the end of June.Bank branch numbers were down two per cent to 5357, building society numbers fell 62 per cent to 76 branches and credit union branch numbers fell 13 per cent to 468.The number of Bank@Post agencies remained unchanged at 3585. Taking agencies, mobile lenders and other face-to-face channels into consideration, total points of presence fell three per cent to 11,685.These figures have to be put into context. During the year to June two building societies, Greater Building Society and IMB, converted to banks and two credit unions, Australian Defence Credit Union and Qantas Staff Credit Union, also converted to banks.These conversions make the banks' figures look better than they would be otherwise and the building society and credit union figures look worse.Among the big banks, Commonwealth Bank cut its branch numbers by 1.4 per cent to 1131, ANZ cut by 3.6 per cent to 721 and Westpac cut by 2.1 per cent to 1080. According to the APRA data NAB's branch numbers grew 8.4 per cent to 748.In remote and very remote areas ADI branch numbers fell 17 per cent, while in "highly accessible" areas there was no reduction.South Australia experienced the highest proportion of branch closures, with an eight per cent reduction, followed by Queensland (seven per cent), Western Australia (five per cent) and Tasmania (five per cent).