Free withdrawal from multiple ATMs. Other banks in the Czech Republic have joined the shared network
In June, Komerční banka and Moneta Money Bank agreed on the so-called sharing of ATMs, and now Air Bank and UniCredit Bank are joining them. For clients, this means easier access to cash services and also savings – many of them will be able to withdraw money from more than two thousand ATMs throughout the country for free. In turn, banks will save on traffic and fees.
Komerční banka came up with the idea of sharing ATMs. In June, it agreed to share ATMs with Moneta Money Bank. “From the very beginning of the project, we also invited other banks operating on the domestic market to the idea of sharing an ATM network. I am very happy that Air Bank and UniCredit Bank have now joined us,” said Jan Juchelka, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Komerční banka. Other banks can still join the project.
Air Bank clients who have been paying for withdrawals at ATMs of foreign banks will now save 35 crowns on the withdrawal fee. It is also a benefit for UniCredit Bank clients – they pay 30 crowns for withdrawals at foreign ATMs if they withdraw less than two thousand crowns. At Komerční banka, withdrawals outside the shared network are available for a fee of 39 crowns with a debit card. Savings were not felt only by Moneta’s clients, who had and still have all withdrawals for free.
“So for our clients, the shared network of ATMs does not yet represent a financial plus, we had free withdrawals from all ATMs. But we joined the idea also because we would like to extend the services of shared ATMs to deposits in the future, which for our clients would be because We have a large group of entrepreneurs who use deposit machines a lot,” says Moneta spokeswoman Zuzana Filipová.
However, ATMs do not yet work in shared mode. I don’t expect it until next year. “In the future, we too would like to share ATMs with deposit machines. We need to first agree on commercial matters with other banks and also resolve the technical side of the matter, because sharing deposit functions in more complex technical solutions,” said Air Bank spokeswoman Jana Pokorná.
According to Michal Teubner from the press department of the KB, the so-called recycling deposit ATMs, i.e. machines that offer accepted banknotes to be re-circulated, should be installed in localities where the demand for cash deposits would be greater, provided that the parameters defined by law are set. These therefore reduce the need to complete the cash more often, and save costs.
More ATMs to small villages
A big advantage of connecting the network of ATMs is increasing their availability. “Czechs are among the best in Europe when it comes to paying by card or smart phone. However, there are still situations when people need to withdraw cash from an ATM, because in some shops or services even today they do not pay by card,” adds Jana Pokorná. And he reminds that the number of ATMs with free withdrawals for Air Bank clients will more than quadruple.
Jakub Dusílek, CEO of UniCredit Bank, reminded that thanks to sharing, there will be fewer ATMs in locations where there are already enough – typically, for example, in shopping centers. On the contrary, it will be placed in places where clients lack it and it has not yet made economic sense.
“The expansion of ATMs to smaller municipalities also means an increase in the availability of cash within the Czech Republic and is beneficial for the majority of citizens. The services provided by ATMs will be closer to clients in real terms and they will not have to travel to more distant ATMs,” explains Teubner.
The spokesperson reminds that banks in other developed countries of Europe have also embarked on the so-called optimization of ATM networks, for example in the Netherlands or Belgium, where they set a reference distance to the nearest ATM of roughly five kilometers. We have a similar goal.
As good as KB’s challenge to other banks, cost savings are also important when sharing ATMs – i.e. ensuring operation, maintenance, electricity, data connection and security. “In short, everything that is needed by each of the four ATMs that stand next to each other somewhere in a shopping center, and at the same time do the same thing,” reads, among other things, a document that went from KB to all banks.
Banks pay each other fees for client withdrawals from ATMs. The four banks involved in sharing ATMs thus forgive each other.
for operating one ATM varies, for example, depending on the type of ATM or its, it also depends on how much the rent costs for the space where it is located, but it is roughly around 40,000 per month.