White-label ATMs will be established in municipalities with 500 inhabitants without a bank branch

Although they do not currently exist at a technical level, the First Vice President and Minister of the Economy, Nadia Calviño, announced this Friday that in those municipalities with more than 500 inhabitants that do not have a bank branch, the banks will have to install "a white-label ATM" if a financial access point is not achieved first through traditional means.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
07 October 2022 Friday 11:44
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White-label ATMs will be established in municipalities with 500 inhabitants without a bank branch

Although they do not currently exist at a technical level, the First Vice President and Minister of the Economy, Nadia Calviño, announced this Friday that in those municipalities with more than 500 inhabitants that do not have a bank branch, the banks will have to install "a white-label ATM" if a financial access point is not achieved first through traditional means.

In the Government's eagerness to strengthen financial inclusion, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation and the three banking employers' associations (AEB, CECA and Unacc) have presented the roadmap for the next 6 months, extendable to another six, consisting of in guaranteeing service through a bank branch, an ATM, a mobile office or a financial agent in municipalities with more than 500 inhabitants. In municipalities with less than 500 inhabitants, cashbank or cash-in-shop solutions will be offered for cash withdrawal through state-of-the-art point-of-sale terminals.

In Spain, after the closure of branches, 54.4% of the 8,131 municipalities that exist have been left without a bank branch. These are very small localities in which 1,555,688 inhabitants live, 3.3% of the total. But there are 243 municipalities with more than 500 inhabitants that have been left without access to banking services, which represent 7.5% of the total. It is in the latter that we now want to focus.

However, Calviño has highlighted that Spain has the third densest network of branches in the European Union of the 27, only behind Bulgaria and France. Thus, compared to 3,223 inhabitants per office on average in the European Union, in Spain the ratio is 2,463. In terms of population per ATM (with 2020 data), the ratio in Spain is 957, 27% lower than the EU-27 average (1,213), being the fourth country with the highest network density behind Austria, Portugal and Croatia, according to the IVIE report, directed by Professor Joaquín Maudos.

Calviño has emphasized that the banks are trying to seal new agreements, such as the one signed with the Post Office, so that financial transactions can be carried out in their offices. He has even invited local councils to offer premises.