Back to the banking future
Atrend towards a cashless society and the removal of $1 transaction fees will see an increase in the number of cash machines being decommissioned, a banking expert says.
Westpac has closed two ATMs in the Hutt Valley, one in Upper Hutt and one in Taita, following a decision by some major banks to cut the fees they charge customers for using other banks’ cash machines.
Westpac spokesman Will Hine said the removal of the fee meant people could use four times as many ATMs as before without charge.
Banking expert David Tripe, head of Massey University’s school of economics and finance, said the decommissioning of some ATMs was the ‘‘exact reverse’’ of what happened 20 years ago.
Before 1997, there was widespread sharing of ATMs because there was no charge, he said.
‘‘What happened then was that Westpac was the first to impose a charge and the others all followed … That was when we got a proliferation of ATMs.’’
Now, the opposite was happening, and more ATM closures could follow.
‘‘I certainly wouldn’t see this as an unusual event. I think we will see more.’’
In addition to banks’ dropping ATM fees, people were using them less, Tripe said.
Twenty years ago, ATM use was rising, but now it was decreasing and they were becoming uneconomic to run.
‘‘It’s because we are using cards, rather than cash, to a greater degree than previously.’’
ANZ, Kiwibank and BNZ said they had no immediate plans to reduce their ATM networks.
‘‘However, we’re always evaluating where our ATMs are best located so they are where there is most demand for them,’’ ANZ spokesman Stefan Herrick said.