For some years now the push and pull between two main exponents of electronic money has been “holding back”: those who follow the line of current governments, increasingly aimed at a reduction of cash, cash, in the medium-long term and instead those who considers the latter still necessary for the current economic trend. Cash continues to represent an important part of the life of Italians, even more than in other countries. Even a natural action such as withdrawing at an ATM could be “complicated”.
Less cash
Despite this, electronic money such as ATMs, cards and bank transfers now represent an important part of the Italian economic fabric, and the trend by the state is to give more and more space to these payment instruments. The reason is simple: as they are traceable, they are much more manageable and “controllable” by the state to avoid any irregular transactions or even part of criminal organizations.
ATM, when can you no longer withdraw? “Beyond belief”
The idea is to say “goodbye” to cash as soon as possible, even if this process, which is still underway and started many years ago, will not end soon, on the contrary, it will take many years to verify its completion. Nevertheless, also the number of branches ATM ATMs are decreasing, a precise and pragmatic choice on the part of the banks that they too are increasingly “digital”. Some very famous lenders such as those of the ING group (such as Conto Arancio) have already renounced their “physical presence” on our territory since last year, and Banca BPER has also decided on this line (even if there are still several ATMs). This entails a new problem to be addressed, that of interchange fees, that is, the additional amount that has already existed for many years, and which is paid at the time of a withdrawal from a bank that does not belong to that of the owner.
The bank commission could disappear in the face of a flexible and if this is actually confirmed (the Antitrust will decide in the coming weeks), the commission amount, currently fixed at 49 cents, could even triple.
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