Question 14809 — banks and financial institutions

Summary

Mr. Stéphane Travert draws the attention of the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industrial, Energy and Digital Sovereignty to the reduction in the number of automatic teller machines (ATMs) on the national territory. Since 2018, more than 8,500 distributors have been eliminated in France. If the French Banking Federation indicates that the network has adapted to new user practices, in particular with the generalization of bank card and contactless payments, this development nevertheless raises questions about the effective accessibility of banking services. Certainly, banking establishments are promoting an optimized territorial network, favoring better distributed distribution points rather than a concentration of redundant ATMs in urban areas. According to data from the Ministry of the Economy and finances, 99% of the metropolitan population would thus reside in a municipality with a withdrawal point or less than fifteen minutes by car from an ATM. However, this approach appears questionable in view of users' expectations, particularly in rural or sparsely populated areas, where the disappearance of ATMs can accentuate the feeling of abandonment and the difficulties of accessing cash. If solutions alternatives are developing, notably via relay points at merchants or in post offices, their coverage and sustainability remain variable. Furthermore, the French remain attached to the use of cash, particularly in times of crisis, as illustrated by the health crisis linked to covid-19. Despite the progression of dematerialized payments, cash retains an important place in practices daily. In this context, the proximity of banking services constitutes a major issue for regional planning and social cohesion. Consequently, he asks what measures the Government intends to take to guarantee equitable access to ATMs throughout the territory and whether it plans to further regulate the reduction of this equipment to preserve a local service that meets to the needs of citizens.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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