How bank cashpoints are changing in France
New ATMs under the brand name ‘Cash Services’ will expand (a little) their services
The new ATMs will bear the brand ‘Cash Services’ and eventually enable customers to do multiple banking tasks
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New cashpoints under the brand name ‘Cash Services’ are set to pop up around France, as four national banks begin their rollout of 7,000 machines.
The ATMs will be rolled out by BNP Paribas, Société Générale, and Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale (Crédit Mutuel and CIC).
The four companies pooled operation of their 15,000 ATMs last year in a bid to share operating costs. It comes as the use of cash is declining.
The first machine of its kind was installed at the end of November 2023 at the Mulhouse exhibition centre (Haut-Rhin). There are now eight more, all outside of banks. By the end of June this year, around 50 new devices are set to be installed.
The plan is to have 7,000 machines nationwide by 2026, including 5,000 in bank branches, and 2,000 outside of branches.
What will the new ATMs enable customers to do?
Initially, the ATMs will offer the withdrawal of cash only. Customers of the four banks will be able to use them for free, as will customers of one of their subsidiaries or other brands (including Hello Bank, Monabanq, Franfinance, Beobank and Targobank).
Other customers with cards from other banks will have to pay a fee.
However, from the end of 2024, the banks’ customers will have access to other everyday banking services via the ATMs (as well as cash withdrawal).
This includes tasks such as depositing cheques and cash (coins and notes), printing a bank details form (RIB), making a bank transfer, and accessing their account balance and history.
Why are the banks pooling their ATMs?
The four companies are merging (and reducing) their ATM provision in a bid to reduce costs, and “reduce the environmental footprint of ATMs by optimising their geographical location, particularly in urban centres, and by using the latest generation of equipment that consumes less energy”.
It comes as the use of cash is declining, and customers are doing more and more banking tasks online.
Late last year, the four banks said that this ‘pooling’ would allow them to continue providing “the self-service banking to which the French are attached, in both urban and rural areas”.
The new ATMs will allow customers to do more banking tasks ‘self service’, by the end of 2026, the banks added.
Where will the new ATMs be?
The Cash Services ATMs will begin to appear outside branches of the four banks in the following 11 regions in June 2024:
- Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (Marseille)
You can find the full list of ATMs set to be available in June, grouped by region, on the ‘Trouver un automate’ page on the Cash-services.fr website.
Rollout and ATM reduction
Despite the rollout, however, the total number of ATMs in France will decline.
The number set to be operated by these four banks by 2026 will represent almost 30% fewer ATMs than they have in France today (the current number is around 10,000, including 8,000 in branches).
Nationwide, across all bank brands, this means there will be around 10,000 ATMs in total in 2026, down from around 15,000 at present.
Read more: Fewer ATMs in France amid Covid, online, and cashless trends
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