2024-04-27 22:01:53
It is convenient, uncomplicated to withdraw money in the supermarket and it is popular with more and more customers. This could be a problem for the markets.
Withdraw money when shopping is becoming more popular. More customers are using the service offered not only by supermarkets, but also by drugstores and hardware stores. The advantage is obvious: you save yourself a trip to the ATM and you can buy cash while you shop.
Usually, up to 200 euros can be withdrawn. The only thing that varies from dealer to dealer is the purchase price from which the service is offered. Although the markets paid out approximately 2.23 billion euros to customers in 2019, in 2023 it was already more than 12.3 billion. This was the result of a study by trade research institute EHI.
Customers have money even though they pay by card
The fact that more and more customers are withdrawing cash while shopping may seem paradoxical. After all, people are paying less and less with coins and banknotes. The author of the EHI study, Horst Rüter, explains the contradiction to the German Press Agency: “Demand is also increasing due to the decrease in the number of ATMs.” In addition, there are still many people with cash in Germany who resist paying by card. Especially in rural areas, where many banks have closed their branches and dismantled ATMs, it is increasingly important to withdraw money from supermarkets, reports Focus citing corporate circles.
You can use yellow at food retailers such as Rewe and Edeka, drugstores such as dm and Rossmann and also hardware stores. © Funke Photo Services/Imagó
It’s easier for customers to find a place to get cash. The service is also free of additional fees – unlike ATMs from other banks. Banks, however, are saving money by continuing to dismantle machines and therefore have to spend less operating costs on the machines, the portal points out. finanzen.net. And the service is beneficial for retailers too. You drive sales, acquire new customers and improve your image. In the long term, however, the service could put the markets in trouble, the study emphasized trade research institute EHI.
There is not enough money in the market’s coffers
If more people continue to withdraw cash and at the same time fewer customers pay with cash, “in some cases it will be difficult for retailers to fully maintain this service and meet demand. Then cash would have to be purchased from suppliers,” explains study author Horst Rüter. The share of cash in total sales fell by two percentage points to 35.5 percent in 2023. Meanwhile, sales of card payments increased to 61.8 percent or 300 billion euros. According to the study, the critical limit is reached when cash turnover falls below 25 percent.
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This may mean that the stores are not always available, especially in the morning when even the checks are empty. Paying cash to customerssays Horst Rüter. In addition, the fees for the transaction. The markets have to pay between 0.1 and 0.2 percent of the amount paid out to the banks for each withdrawal. In 2023, companies paid 17.23 million euros to the banks, 25.7 percent more than the previous year.
There may be restrictions on customers
“The trade does not consider this compensation to be justified because the money service means relief for the banking industry. This gives them an opportunity to dismantle more ATMs and reduce costs,” he complained German trade association in a statement last year. Horst Rüter expects the service to be subject to customer restrictions in the future. One possibility, for example, is a lower ceiling for the amounts paid. The dealers themselves see no problem yet. They are still criticizing.
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Rossmann, for example, sees no restrictions on the offer, but does not want to buy additional cash. On the other hand, competitor dm would “welcome it if the banks waived charging fees on the disbursement amount”. The threshold finanzen.net it is doubtful that major discounters and supermarket chains could end the fee model. Ultimately, reducing the number of ATMs is in the interest of banks. Regardless of what happens next, retailers are unlikely to discontinue the offer in the future.
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