2024-04-18 22:50:50
“Costs and economics do not allow for bank branches in every town. That was neither, nor is, nor will be. The movement is towards electronic services, electronic banking. To me, it seems self-evident and quite natural”, said I. Šimonytė during the Government Hour in the Seimas on Thursday.
“We have a basic package of financial services, which is regulated, the price of which is determined by the Bank of Lithuania, and it is not the case that basic services cost people anything,” she added.
Finally, she urged not to denigrate older people because of their potential inability to use electronic services. According to her, the number of people who use cards and electronic payments in Lithuania is constantly growing.
“There are enough people in Lithuania who are able to use cards and electronic payments and they are constantly growing. We should not belittle those people by trying to say that all older people are not able to do this,” said the Prime Minister.
In the assessment of the Bank of Lithuania (LB), although the customer service departments of physical banks are decreasing, the need for “live” consultation remains. However, according to Asta Kuniyoshi, deputy chairman of the LB board, residents are not sufficiently informed about alternative service options.
At that time, the president of the Lithuanian Banks Association (LBA), Eivilė Čipkutė, says that people use “live” services less often, which is why banks are closing more and more physical customer service departments.
However, according to A. Kuniyoshi, there is still a large number of people in the country who need “live” banking services. However, according to the LB representative, financial institutions do not sufficiently inform such clients about alternatives.
According to the LBA survey, last year 62 percent residents said they had never visited physical bank service branches. Also, according to the LBA, the number of online banking users has grown significantly over the past five years, reaching 90 percent in 2023.
There are currently 380 branches of physical banks in Lithuania, which include branches of credit institutions and unions. There are about 200 credit unions, most of them in the regions.
According to Edita Lisinskaitė, representative of the Cash Department of LB, there are currently 1146 ATMs operating in Lithuania.
2024-04-18 22:50:50