Savings banks reveal how things will continue

The Germans love their cash: In hardly any other EU country are coins and bills still so common in payment transactions. Problem for banks: Holding cash is expensive. After the Deutsche Bank recently announced that it wanted to restrict the issuing of cash in the branch, the savings banks have now made a statement – ​​with a clear statement.

PayPal, Klarna, credit card and Co. There is no shortage of cashless systems in Germany. Nevertheless, Germans remain loyal to cash: In the course of the corona pandemic, the proportion of people who used cash in the past year has fallen by 12 percent. The bottom line is that at 72 percent it is still far higher than in other EU countries. The savings banks, who are clearly positioning themselves in the ongoing cash debate, know this too.

Savings banks: cash issuance in branches should remain

When asked by the Handelsblatt, about the Kreissparkasse Köln to want to continue to offer cash in the branches: “In all of our 116 branches, customers have the option of withdrawing money from the till.” A reduction in the cash offer is currently not planned, they say. Hamburger Sparkasse sees it similarlywhich enables its customers to deposit and withdraw cash in all of the approximately 100 neighborhood branches (source: Handelsblatt).

The situation is very different at the Oldenburgische Landesbank (OLB), for example. According to OLB boss Stefan Barth, the money house is not planning that Cash dispensing in branches to abolish altogether. However, the number of branches has already increased reduced from 180 to 40. Because: “Of course, supplying cash to branches or ATMs in management is expensive,” says Barth.

Cash is king? Bitcoin investors see it differently:

Deutsche Bank wants to significantly reduce cash issuance in branches

The trigger for the renewed debate about the availability of cash in branches was a plan by Deutsche Bank. In the future, they would like to severely limit the issuing of cash in the branches. “In the future, I no longer want to offer cash in the branches because holding cash incurs costs,” says Deutsche Bank manager Lars Stoy.