BNP Paribas, Crédit Mutuel and Société Générale will soon share their ATMs.
An announcement made by the leader, this Tuesday, on the occasion of the creation of the National Committee for Means of Payment (CNMP) at the Parisian site of the Citéco museum.
15,000 ATMs out of 48,000 in France
BNP Paribas, Crédit Mutuel and Société Générale announced in October 2021 that they were studying “a project to pool their ATM network in France”. The three networks combined represent 15,000 ATMs out of more than 48,000 in total in France.
In practice, this distribution should allow customers of the three brands to benefit from free “enhanced” access to the services offered by their banks at common ATMs, namely cash deposits and withdrawals, check deposits, accounts or printing of bank details. Thierry Laborde did not address the clothing of these common dealers, neutral or with the colors of the banks.
ATMs becoming less profitable
But it is also a way for banks to cope with declining profitability. ATMs are expensive. It costs between 25,000 and 32,000 euros per year, all expenses included (maintenance, supplies, rental of the premises, etc.). But in France, the use of cash is eroding. A movement that has been further accelerated by Covid and the rise of contactless payment.
Result: ATMs bring less and less to banks and their number continues to decline. The metropolis had 47,853 ATMs at the end of last year, almost 10% less than at the end of 2018, according to the Banque de France.
No ATM closures in rural areas
Also present at Citéco, the co-president of the CNMP Erick Lacourrège specified that the Banque de France welcomed the issue “with interest and a benevolent look”. With one condition, he continued, “that it does not translate into a reduction in the population’s access to distributors”, a point on which he obtained guarantees from the banks.
No ATM should be closed in rural and isolated areas, assured one of the three banks during the presentation of the initial project.
Source: BFM TV
