One of the most curious and perhaps indefensible public relations tactics used by major Australian banks is the practice of not announcing branch closures.In the last 24 months Westpac and its regional subsidiaries have closed around 70 retail branches - more than any other bank in the country. While some of the closures might be understandable and defensible in light of the continued growth of electronic banking, it is a poor look for any bank to be seen to be outsourcing responsibility for disclosing branch closures to an external stakeholder.It is now standard practice for news of Westpac branch culls to be 'leaked' to national media via the website of the Finance Sector Union.Nine more Westpac-owned branches were earmarked for closure last week, according to the latest update from the FSU.The branches are:•    Drouin, Gladstone Park, Bayswater, Lilydale and Doreen in Victoria;.•    Westmead and Toronto in NSW;•    Sandgate in Queensland; and•    Butler in WA.The FSU states on its website that 39 branch roles will be axed when the branches fold."Once again Westpac has blamed the decline in over-the-counter transactions and an increase in customers accessing mobile and digital banking options as factors in their decision to close these latest branches," the union reports on its website."What Westpac are not saying is that for a number of years, staff working in their branches have been expected to push customers to use mobile and digital banking options - it is a performance target staff are measured against."Even though there is evidence to support the case for branch closures, banks such as Westpac seem no longer willing to defend their business decisions.It is difficult to reconcile this practice with an organization that has claimed the gong for "Australia's most socially responsible bank" more than any other.It also raises questions about how serious Westpac takes its promise made in its most recent sustainability report to rebuild trust with community stakeholders.