Rush on supermarket ATMs: retailers face a problem

Rush on supermarket ATMs: retailers face a problem

Withdrawing money at the supermarket is becoming increasingly popular with customers as it is practical and uncomplicated. Supermarkets, drugstores and hardware stores offer this service, which allows consumers to receive cash in addition to shopping. The amount that customers can typically withdraw is up to 200 euros. The increasing use of this service is reflected in the numbers - while retailers paid out around 2.23 billion euros to customers in 2019, this number rose to over 12.3 billion euros by 2023, according to a study by the retail research institute EHI.

Although fewer and fewer people are paying with cash, demand for the money withdrawal service is increasing. This is partly because the number of ATMs is declining. Withdrawals in supermarkets are becoming increasingly important, especially in rural areas where bank branches and ATMs have been dismantled. This service does not require additional fees, which is attractive to customers. The service offers advantages for both banks and retailers in terms of cost savings and increased sales.

Nevertheless, the service could become problematic for the markets in the long term. If the share of cash in total sales falls below 25 percent, it could become difficult to sustain demand. There is a possibility that stores do not always have enough cash on hand to pay out customers. In addition, the markets have to pay fees to the banks per withdrawal, which leads to rising costs.

In the future, customers may experience restrictions on this service, such as a lower limit on amounts withdrawn. While some retailers like Rossmann are not planning any changes to the service, others like dm are open to banks reducing fees. It is thought that major discounters and supermarkets may be rethinking the fee model to support banks' interest in reducing ATM usage. However, it remains unlikely that retailers will discontinue this service entirely.