A network of mobile bank offices will cover the 503 municipalities of Catalonia that currently do not have ATMs or branches and whose residents are forced to travel to other locations to obtain cash or carry out other procedures. The Generalitat has awarded CaixBank and Caixa d'Enginyers this service of mobile ATMs, which will travel with staff to be able to serve customers, who in a very high percentage are elderly people, and offer them the same services as in any face-to-face office.
The Department of Economy and Hisenda has awarded the service for 909,960 euros per year for two extendable years. CaixaBank assumes five of the eight lots in which the contract has been distributed, which translates into coverage of 503 municipalities spread across 41 regions. Three more lots (313 municipalities in 24 regions) have been awarded to Caixa d'Enginyers. In the municipalities where the two entities will operate, the mobile office will be operational at least two days a month, while in the rest, the minimum service will be one day a month.
The mobile offices will come into service in a maximum of six to nine months. "More than half of the municipalities in Catalonia, 53%, did not have financial services; we wanted to reverse the situation and we have been working for months with financial entities to define a service that is innovative and that will make life easier for citizens," Minister Natàlia Mas Guix said this morning during the presentation of the service in Alpens (Lluçanès). The plan to bring ATMs and financial services to all municipalities was approved in July of last year.
The service will allow, within a maximum period of nine months, not only to recover the service in the municipalities that once had an office but ended up closing, but also in those that have never had one, which according to sources from the department is 80% of the locations that have been included in the award.
The rules of the contest establish that in towns with up to 250 inhabitants, the mobile office must remain in each town for a minimum of 30 minutes and in municipalities with more than 250 residents, a minimum of one hour. The hours will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Fridays and from May 23 to September 30 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Town Councils will be in charge of determining the location of the mobile banking office in each municipality, guaranteeing the energy supply, disseminating the service among the population and reporting any incidents that are detected.
