November 10, 2023, 1:08 p.m. |
Reading time: 4 minutes
The bank branch network in Germany has been increasingly thinned out in recent years – and the trend is continuing. Many people are concerned about this development, especially since there are fewer and fewer ATMs. So how will you get cash in the future?
The outlook is bleak for many bank customers. Raiffeisenbank Hochtaunus has loud daily News announced that it would close all of its branches except the main office. Postbank and Deutsche Bank plan until mid-2026 A nationwide reduction of up to 250 locations each and the savings banks and Commerzbank have also drastically reduced their networks at several locations. At the same time, more and more ATMs have been dismantled since 2021. For many bank customers, it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain cash or use services. The situation is sometimes precarious, especially in rural regions.
That’s why banks are reducing their branches and ATMs
Loud Statista The number of ATMs in Germany was still over 58,000 in 2019. However, in 2021 it was only just over 55,000 euros and the number is continuing to fall. At the same time, the number of cashless transactions worldwide rapidly. It is precisely this trend that is currently leading to a rethink among banks. In the future, some of them not only want to reduce the ability to spend money by cutting down on branches and ATMs. Some banks are also restricting the acceptance of cash and hope this will reduce costs.
For many banks, the reason behind this decision is simply money. Not only is staff required to operate the branches and ATMs, but there are also costs for maintaining the infrastructure in the background. This could be the maintenance of IT, hardware, filling the ATMs through cash transport or similar factors. However, according to the banks, demand is decreasing, meaning the costs are not worth it in the long term. The argument goes that just two customers per hour cannot cover the costs. “We have been subsidizing the operation of the branches for a long time, but demand from customers is now so low that we decided last year to close the branches due to a lack of demand,” says a spokeswoman for Raiffeisenbank Hochtaunus.
Accepting money at bank counters is also not convenient during ongoing operations. According to an analysis by the management consultancy McKinsey & Company Accepting money costs banks almost two billion euros every year.
There is also a factor that only a few people are aware of: the blowing up or manipulation of ATMs. The damage costs the banks a huge amount of money; in some cases, destroyed ATMs are dismantled but not replaced. This also contributes to the shrinkage of ATMs in Germany. Loud Statista Almost 500 explosions (including attempts) were registered in 2022 alone. Most of the explosions took place in North Rhine-Westphalia.
More and more hurdles when withdrawing money
Despite this development, cash is still one of the most popular payment methods among Germans. So how will they get their money in the future? Raiffeisenbank Hochtaunus, which stopped deposits and withdrawals in the branch a year ago and is now closing all branches, referred affected customers to the ATMs of third-party banks. Alternatively, Achim Brunner, CEO of Raiffeisenbank in Hochtaunus, suggested that customers withdraw money at the checkouts of supermarkets or drugstore chains. But there is a hurdle lurking here that many bank customers don’t even know about.
In many supermarket or drugstore chains, customers do not receive any money with the new debit card. Cash can only be issued here with the Girocard, which is now subject to a fee at many banks. Based on this observation, TECHBOOK had already spoken to various supermarkets and drugstores. Lidl, Kaufland and Rewe all confirmed the restrictions with the debit card to us. Rewe also stated in its statement that there are “currently no efforts to expand the service to the credit card industry’s debit cards.” Cash withdrawals are generally not possible in Aldi Nord branches and the Edeka branches sometimes all trade differently because they are not structured as a cooperative.
So it almost looks as if Germany is forced to change. In other countries, cash now hardly plays a role. Most payment transactions are made cashless with a credit card or contactless services such as Apple Pay or Google Pay. However, many retailers in this country are not yet prepared. They would first have to adapt their systems – and that costs money. This also creates the aforementioned problem of withdrawing money with debit cards in supermarkets. Cashless payments also become problematic in smaller shops, bakeries or snack bars.