In summer, in tourist resorts, finding cash has become a problem. Bank branches disappear, independent ATMs appear everywhere and apply very high commissions. With huge risks for users and financial system.
The problem mainly arises in summer. You are in one holiday resortyou need urgently liquidityyou look around and you realize that Bank branches have disappeared. Someone can object: but how, in full it was digital Do you still look for the coin? Yes, in agreement, but the Pareo on the beach sold by the ambulant I can’t pay it with the visa and the same thing for the souvenir on the stall of the market, or the Cappuccino and the cicchetto in the mountain hut.
Then you get a jolt of rebellion: I can still or not pay as I want What I buy? So weaken the sight and here is a Non -banking ATM. One more is worth one, you think, just solve the problem. Too bad, then, discovering that satisfying your need cost you Very dear: in very high commissions.
Disappeared ATM, ATM private expanding
And the question does not concern only amene holiday resorts: recently these ATM (the acronym for Automated Teller Machine: Teller is for cashier), they also spread in the city.
Since the banking system has started a drastic reduction of branches To break down the costs, cutting the staff, the doors are significantly decreased and numerous operations are now only possible digitally. It is modernity, it is said, less files, all faster, are the slogans, but then When you clash with everyday problems, one click is not enough.
The resistance of the cash (and the costs of the cards)
The cash resists and with it the need to withdraw. Only that i ATM have gone like the counters and have sprouted like mushrooms the Not banking ATMs. A survey of the ECB reveals that the majority of the people interviewed in the Eurozone (62 percent) believes important to have i cash as a payment option.
A resistance to digital that is often not only linked to habit. THE Credit, debt and prepaid cards feesare growing. According to the annual survey conducted bySosTariffe.it Observatoryout of 74 cards analyzed, the cost of the fee is increased and not a little. For all cards with a combined account, the average fee sees in 2024 even a +58 percent compared to 2023.
Stock doors, financial desertification
The problem, however, is that everything consists against liquidity. A report by Study Center of Unimpresa it indicates, in fact, that the number of bank branches active in Italy is dropped under the threshold of 20 thousand units. The reduction from 20,160 branches at the end of 2023 a 19,655 at 31 December 2024 represents a historical fact.
The vice -president Giuseppe Spadafora Comment: «Behind this rationalization, which is often justified with the digitization and efficiency of the services is hiding a progressive financial desertification which dramatically penalizes the internal areas ».
Alternative doors grow, but who controls them?
The ATM Banking they went from 37,844 a 36.324with a contraction of 1,520 unitsthat is, the 4 percent less. This void was filled with the counters Independent ATM (on their number to today There are no official data), controlled by companies privatesometimes based abroad, operating in Italy under the free services of servicesas required by European legislation.
Apparently, offer the same functions as a traditional ATM: cash withdrawal, account, sometimes even operations with the cryptocurrency. But the substance changes. The knot is that not being credit institutionsthese operators they are not subjected to vigilance from the Bank of Italy or of theFinancial information unit (UIF). And that increases the risks both for customers and for the entire financial system.
A risk for safety (and for the wallet)
The phenomenon raised the attention of Bankitalialed by Fabio Panettaand the Minister of Economy Giancarlo Giorgettiworried about Risks related to money recycling and toillegal use of cash.
In a report of the MEFdrawn up with the collaboration of UIFit is highlighted that independent ATMs “can be used by criminal subjects for recycle money of illegal origin».
The main critical issues reported are:
- absence of controls on the origin of the funds
- monitoring difficulties money flows
- risk of collusion between managers and organized crime
The presence of these ATMs has grown above all in tourist areaswhere customers often do not pose the problem of whom He really manages the counter from which they are taking.
Watch out for the commissions: “Scammers!”
The risk for the user is double: on the one hand, it can become unconsciously part of suspicious operationson the other hand you risk do not be protected in case of problemssuch as incorrect transactions, false banknotes or blocked accounts.
Some independent ATMs, especially those installed by operators Fintechalso allow the direct purchase of Bitcoin or others cryptocurrency. This feature, apparently innovative, increases the risk of use for illegal purposeslike the transfer of funds outside the official bank channelscircumventing the anti -money laundering checks.
And then there is the commissions theme. On Trustpilotthe review platform, are found merciless comments:
“No receipt, ** commissions not clearly visible”
“At Turin airport, commissions from licensed thieves: ** 15 percent at the gearbox”
“Scammers: 100 euros of withdrawal and ** 4.5 euros of commissions”
“20 thousand Hungarian florins and they applied to me 12.75 percent”
The rights (and duties) of cash
Anna Vizzaricoordinator Public Affairs Director by Altroconsumoexplains that «the commissions are higher banking ATMs because these are subjected to the antitrust legislation that obliges them to have a maximum interbank commission of 49 centsto which the bank can add other commissions ».
Then he observes that “in many countries and tourist resorts it is still Difficult to use digital And at the same time the chances of accessing the cash have reduced themselves ».
The cutting of the doors should have been softer And anyway, he warns Vizzari, “The right to access to cash should be protected As easy as possible ».
And let’s add: safely and without being turned off.
