Financial institutions take a strategic turn in terms of ATMs when the social demand for the provision of cash and complaints about the closure of branches is higher. Euro 6000, the old ATM network of savings banks, allies with Euronet, an American payment method provider that operates the devices independently in 62 countries to add its more than 3,000 devices.
Euro 6000 card customers will thus be able to make cash withdrawals free of charge or under better conditions at more than 18,000 terminals. The census includes the almost 8,000 ATMs of the member entities of Euro 6000, the Euronet equipment and the terminals of other entities with which they have commercial agreements.
Within Euro 6000 are KutxaBank, CajuSur, Abanca, Ibercaja, Evo Banca, CecaBank, Cofidis, Pagantis, CardTronics, Caja de Ingenieros, Arquia Banca, Caixa Pollença and Caixa Ontinyent, whose ATM network is interconnected through of CECA and Redsys. There are also 171,866 terminals from affiliated businesses.
Euronet terminals are located, above all, in places with a lot of public traffic such as airports, shopping centers and urban centers. They are equipment that also allows the withdrawal of cash in various currencies for international users, with currency exchange.
Thus, it is a complementary network to that of Euro 6000, whose equipment -those of the member banks of the system and associates- are located throughout the country, both in urban centers and, especially, in rural areas.
But the alliance has the added value of the Euronet project to install more equipment in small unbanked towns and municipalities further away from large urban centers, restoring accessibility to cash. “With the ‘ATM for the Community’ program we bring our ATMs,” said Euronet CEO Vagelis Karabasis.
“The challenge for financial institutions is to be able to relate to their customers when, where and how they choose,” explained the president of Euro 6000, José Ignacio Oto. The manager claimed the agreement as a sign of the social commitment of the entities that make up the EURO 6000 system, “putting at their disposal a more extensive network of ATMs to combat financial exclusion in sparsely populated areas.”
The movement takes place after giving a preferential service to older and less digitized customers after the repercussion of the ‘I’m older, not an idiot’ campaign starring Carlos San Juan on the Change.org platform to collect signatures for a service more humanitarian in the financial sector.
The entities, alone, have launched initiatives such as extending cashier hours or removing restrictions, allocating part of the workforce to help customers use ATMs, or reaching agreements for the provision of ‘cash’ with Correos.
Facebook Comments
Disqus