Decrease in the number of ATMs: "Nearly 200 municipalities have lost their access to cash since 2015"

Every morning, Etienne Lefebvre decrypts one of the most important economic news of the day.

The Banque de France says that access to ATMs remains "very good". This is not the opinion of many rural communities.

Yes this map of "DAB" was unveiled yesterday to calm the anxiety of the elected. Because it's a fact, the banks are reducing their branch network. And the cash dispenser that disappears is a symbol of marginalization, such as the closing of a train line or a post office. It is also a heavy loss for other businesses. So what does the Banque de France say? That 99% of the French are less than fifteen minutes by car, a town with a PLC. This relativizes things. But it does not prevent, the number of distributors decreases: -5% in three years. Nearly 200 municipalities have lost their access to species since 2015, it concerns 300,000 people.

This will not be enough to calm the worries

Surely not ! Because banks lose money with these machines, which must be secured, and which serve less and less, because we use less cash. The big maneuvers are committed to reduce the rating. First solution: the outsourcing of "ATMs". Groupe BPCE, along with Banque Populaire and Caisse d'Epargne, has just handed over this task to Brink's, the fund carrier. Another option pushed by the state: mutualization between banks. This is practiced in the Netherlands. But French groups are still far away.

Last solution: make the municipalities pay. When an agency closes, the bank keeps the automaton, if the village participates. This is what happened in Chamboulive, in Corrèze, an emblematic place of the "DAB" revolt.

But in the long run, are we going to do without cash and therefore cash machines?

Then the cash transactions are down 2% per year, and it will continue with mobile payment in particular. But cash still has good days ahead: it remains the first payment for small purchases, and it is used as a precautionary savings - money under the mattress. So banks will continue to pay for "ATMs".

But beware, the big maneuvers do not stop there. Large groups are tired of seeing the new banks online, without an agency, taking advantage of their distributors. They will therefore almost double the fees to pay in case of withdrawal by a customer of another bank, 1 euro per transaction. This will keep more distributors, swear the banks. That, we ask to see.