Banking on new cash-points

THE Valencian Community is looking at plans to address the increasing issue of municipalities that have no banks by installing ATM machines. There are 135,000 people in the Community without access to any financial services, a situation that is expected to worsen as banks save money and encourage people to use online banking. However even for those who switch to this system, they still need to visit a bank or cash-point to actually withdraw cash, still the preferred method of payment in most smaller towns in the region. The €7 million project will pay for the installation and maintenance of the new machines for four years when the project will be reviewed. The Community has also asked that banks and other financial entities help address the issue with initiatives such as mobile banking.