Withdraw from an ATM? More and more of a problem

According to data from the Bank of Italy, the number of bank branches and ATMs is constantly decreasing. Especially during the pandemic in Italy, the branches and ATMs where you can withdraw cash have been reduced: 831 bank branches closed in 2020, with Bankitalia announcing that bank branches have decreased by 3.4% compared to 2019. In our country there is a bank for every 2,522 inhabitants and in 2,802 municipalities there is no credit institution. A recent English report from Which? tells of a similar situation also in the United Kingdom where ATMs decreased and, during the national blockade between March and May last year, they also remained largely out of service. 801 bank branches closed between the start of the blockade in March 2020 until the lifting of the restrictions in July this year and a further 103 branches are expected to close by the end of this year. Most importantly, the research reveals that 57% of people encountered at least one problem using ATMs during this period: 17% of those said that the ATM was out of cash or was not working. About 43% of respondents said they had instead had problems with bank branches, between closures and reduced opening hours. This type of inconvenience mainly affects elderly people and those who do not have access to the Internet. Explained Gareth Shaw Head of Money of Whitch ?: “These figures show the extent of the damage caused by the pandemic to the already fragile cash system and tell the consequences that this has on consumers looking to withdraw cash. While many people can do digital banking, millions of other people aren’t ready or able to do it yet. It is consumers looking to withdraw and spend cash in stores near their home or on highways who will be most affected if they are left without a way to access cash locally. This should serve as a wake-up call for the government and the FCA: the cash system continues to crumble and legislation on safeguarding access to cash must be introduced quickly ”. A panorama that, in our country, is destined to change even more when the Antitrust will rule on the proposal that Bancomat Spa has presented to reform the cash withdrawal service and the remuneration for the institution. To date, the Bancomat service is based on the interchange fee which amounts to € 0.49 which, for each individual withdrawal, the bank issuing the card recognizes the bank that owns the ATM for the use of the system by its customer. The issuing bank may then decide whether or not to apply a commission to the customer for each off-site withdrawal based on its business strategies. With the new model proposed, the interchange fee is destined to disappear and give way to the action of each individual bank that owns the ATM, which will be able to decide independently the cost that the customers of the other banks will have to incur to withdraw from it.