Benjamin Peter, edited by Julien Moreau 09h47, March 28, 2023

Every day, Europe 1 looks at an idea or a problem in your daily life. In Bessières, Haute-Garonne, a small town of 4,000 inhabitants, the town hall chose to install an ATM to replace those that had disappeared with the relocation of bank branches in recent years.

To fight against banking desertification, the mayor of Bessières, in Haute-Garonne, decided to buy an ATM. According to the Bank of France, 1,000 ATMs disappear every year. "We had the Caisse d'Epargne and Crédit Agricole who were there and all of a sudden everything was taken away from us. We had to find a solution, "reports Régine who has just withdrawn some tickets in this new municipal distributor. She likes to use cash for her daily purchases.

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"It was a disaster"

"You can pay with the card, contactless up to 50 euros, I do it too. But there, at the market, if you buy vegetables, fruits, me, I pay in cash, "she adds to the microphone of Europe 1. For merchants too, the departure of the banks was badly experienced. Aline, who runs a haberdashery close to the town hall, has seen the consequences on her turnover.

"It was a disaster. People lacked cash to shop on baskets of less than 20 euros. The elderly were not really used to using the bank card and almost no one has checks anymore so it was a shortfall for the merchants of the city center, "says Aline at the microphone of Europe 1.

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"There is a resurgence of activity in our city center"

Mayor Cédric Maurel had this distributor installed managed by a private company more adapted to the habits of the inhabitants. "It's not just Gen Z who are familiar with contactless payment or the connected object with a phone, a ring or a watch. There is still this need, especially for seniors who live in the city centre and have difficulty getting around outside. There is a renewed activity in our city center thanks to the installation of this ATM, "says the mayor of the city at the microphone of Europe 1. A choice that comes at a cost. A little more than 50,000 euros for five years, but the more it is used, the less expensive it will be for the city.