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Banks keep cash accessible in Zeelandic Flanders

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The Dutch Payments Association, ABN AMRO, ING, Rabobank and SNS launched a pilot in Zeelandic Flanders to give residents sufficient access to cash. On 10 July, Mayor Mulder of the municipality of Hulst officially launched the pilot by opening a new ATM in Graauw.

“I give the cooperating banks within the Dutch Payments Association a high five. All credit to this excellent pilot in Zeelandic Flanders, which means people can withdraw cash again even in rural areas,” said Mayor Mulder. “I hope the pilot is successful and will be continued.”

Cash withdrawal points in Biervliet, Graauw and Vogelwaarde

Cash was being used less and less, while debit card and online payments were increasing. As a result, demand for ATMs was steadily declining. In some small rural communities, they had disappeared from the streets entirely. Nevertheless, access to cash remained an important concern for the banks. They therefore initiated the pilot in Zeelandic Flanders. The pilot was supported by the National Forum on the Payment System (NFPS*).

Several solutions were available for areas with few cash withdrawal points. Retailers could, for example, allow customers to withdraw extra cash at the point of sale when making a purchase (cashback). In Biervliet, cash could be withdrawn at the cash service point at ’t Winckeltje. In Vogelwaarde, the Attent supermarket provided this service. The Dutch Payments Association supplied communication materials to inform local residents. For Graauw and the surrounding area, the best solution was a new ABN AMRO ATM in the entrance hall of the Terra Groda gallery.

“Cooperation is needed to move payments quickly and efficiently from A to B and to keep essential payment facilities accessible to everyone,” said Piet Mallekoote, director of the Dutch Payments Association. “The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets, which safeguards healthy competition in the Netherlands, now allows the banks to cooperate in a new way in Zeelandic Flanders to keep cash accessible to everyone.”

Joint tailored solutions from banks for the whole of the Netherlands

Zeelandic Flanders was the first area where the Dutch Payments Association and the banks developed joint tailored solutions to keep cash sufficiently accessible. The Dutch Payments Association also alerted the banks to new locations where access to cash risked becoming inadequate. All these processes would be tested during the Zeelandic Flanders pilot that year. The experience gained could then be used to provide similar tailored interbank solutions elsewhere in the Netherlands after the pilot ended.

*The NFPS promotes the security, reliability, accessibility and efficiency of Dutch payments. It also monitors the availability and accessibility of cash. The NFPS has a broad membership representing providers and users of payments and is chaired by De Nederlandsche Bank.

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