Dutch banks begin transition to joint ATM network

Geldmaat, ABN AMRO, ING and Rabobank together unveil the first Geldmaat ATM in the Overhees shopping centre in the Dutch town of Soest, „kicking off the transfer of the three banks’ ATMs to Geldmaat, the organisation taking on responsibility for the provision of cash in the Netherlands”. The new cash machines will be recognisable by their yellow look & feel and logo, and „will gradually show up in the streets of the country’s towns and cities as 2019 and 2020 progress.”, according to a press release.

More often than not, the new ATMs will be in the exact same place as the old ones, but sometimes they’ll be moved. Particularly in busy streets, the number of ATMs will be reduced, with multiple ATMs currently found within a short distance of each other. By recasting the ATM network, machines will be more evenly spread, with Geldmaat factoring in criteria already in place, such as the number of transactions, peak times and the catchment area – e.g. a shopping centre or entertainment district. The basic premise remains that, in sparsely populated areas, a cash machine should be available within a radius of five kilometres. Geldmaat will also place ATMs in new locations.

In the past few years, Geldmaat and the country’s three high street banks joined forces with civil society groups – including the Dutch Consumer Association, Eye Association Netherlands (Oogvereniging) and senior citizens’ associations – to work on a vision to keep cash accessible and available in the Netherlands.

Richard de Vries, who has been closely involved in the transition to Geldmaat as Transition Manager for ABN AMRO, commented: „I’m incredibly proud that we’re welcoming the first Geldmaat cashpoint today after over two years of solid cooperation with ING, Rabobank and Geldmaat, and the massive commitment of our ABN AMRO colleagues involved. We have many thousands more ATMs to go, of course, but it’s a lift-off!”

Bart van de Sande, who serves on the Transition Board on behalf of ABN AMRO, added: “This first Geldmaat cash machine is a unique milestone for all our clients in the Netherlands. The close collaboration and sheer hard work by many will result in an even more balanced distribution of ATMs across the country, keeping cash accessible, affordable, safe and available for all.”

At the end of 2017, ABN AMRO, ING, Rabobank and Geldmaat announced they were teaming up to create a bank-independent ATM network. From today, the three banks will gradually transfer their ATMs to Geldmaat. Geldmaat, previously Geldservice Nederland, has been in charge of the management and maintenance of the banks’ ATMs since 2011.