“The level of banking accessibility is declining in Belgium”
Drawing. (@BelgaImage)
While the banking branch networks have been active for years, more than two million Belgians do not have access to digital banking, according to the annual report of the non-profit association Financité. She points out that “the number of bank branches continues to drop rapidly throughout the country. Belgium will have lost 50% of its branches in 10 years.
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The ever-increasing number of bank branch closures and the regular removal billet dispenser are two major trends that weaken the banking accessibility of those who do not use digital banking services (on the phone or on the computer), by choice or lack of means. A problem whichis not limited to the elderly”, underline the authors of the report. “Between 2.4 million and 2.9 million people do not use digital banking.
According to data from Financité, Belgium still had 12,751 banking contact points at the end of 2000, compared to only 3,809 at the end of 2021. And with just under 489 ATMs per million inhabitants, our country is now well below the average in the euro zone (807 machines per million people). Faced with this observation, the non-profit organization issues a dozen recommendations to enable “true banking inclusion”. It remains to be seen whether these calls will be heard by the banks active in Belgium…