READ CATALAN VERSION
Not having an ATM or bank office in the town is a problem for thousands of residents, who are forced to travel to the nearest municipality that has this service, to carry out tasks as common as withdrawing or depositing money. To put an end to this grievance, the Generalitat of Catalonia has created a network of mobile banking offices that will offer personalized financial attention to the 503 municipalities of Catalonia that do not have any ATM. The entities in charge of this will be Caixabank and Caixa Enginyers.
The first mobile offices will begin operating in September and the aim is to cover 100% of the country’s population within a maximum period of nine months. Currently, 54% of the municipalities of Catalonia lack a bank branch. This means that more than 300,000 Catalans suffer a risk of financial exclusion, that is, they do not have access to financial services in their town or city. For the Minister of Economy and Hisenda, Natàlia Mas i Guix, the project will ensure financial inclusion everywhere, and “will put an end to a situation that we consider unfair” so that “no citizen feels excluded due to place of residence, age, skills digital or economic resources”.
Mobile banking is expected to be operational within a maximum of nine months. CaixaBank will operate in 503 municipalities, distributed in 41 regions, while Caixa Enginyers will operate in 313 municipalities, in 24 regions. The service will be provided by the two entities that, alternately, will go every fifteen days to the municipalities in which both operate, and once a month in the towns where only one entity provides service.
The Generalitat has awarded the contract for two years, extendable for another two, and for an amount of 990,920 euros per year. The cost of the service will be shared by the Generalitat and the entities.
Mobile bank offices will allow clients of any entity to perform all the services of a bank office: withdraw and deposit cash, direct debit payment of bills and taxes to bank accounts; check movements and balance and obtain bank account statements, among others. In addition, they will also provide personalized attention in the management of both accounts and other banking and financial products of assets, liabilities and intermediation.
Each entity must make a route proposal that guarantees the visit of the mobile bank office one day a month in each municipality. In the case of towns with up to 250 inhabitants, you will have to stay for a minimum of 30 minutes and, in those with more than 250 inhabitants, you will not be able to go shorter than one hour.
Regarding opening hours, they will be Monday to Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with an hour break for lunch, except on Fridays, when the service will end at 3:00 p.m. In the period from May 23 to September 30, the service will be from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. from Monday to Friday.
Since 2008 in Catalonia, almost three out of every four bank offices have disappeared, a total of 5,961. According to data from the Bank of Spain, fourteen years ago there were 8,155 branches and in 2022 this figure has decreased to 2,194. This is a general trend throughout Europe that, in Catalonia, has been more intense. While the number of offices fell by 41% in the European Union and 58% in the State, in Catalonia the decrease has been 73%.
Given this situation, Councilor Natàlia Mas highlights that the initiative to bring mobile banking offices to all municipalities is a clear commitment to territorial rebalancing, one of the Government’s priority axes. The head of Economy and Hisenda considers that the challenge of the Government and the country is to guarantee that any citizen can live a dignified life throughout the Catalan territory.
City councils will have an active role in the implementation of the mobile banking office service. They will be in charge of determining the location, guaranteeing a power outlet point, disseminating the service, collecting incidents that occur and transferring them to those responsible, and preparing an annual report assessing the quality of the service.
