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Bancomat: Antitrust rejects the change to the commission system

Bancomat: Antitrust rejects the change to the commission system.

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On the horizon there is the danger of having to pay expenses within 60 euros only in cash. This given the block decided by the Government on the obligation for merchants to accept cards for any payment. An obligation that in 2023 could only concern receipts over 60 euros. From January we will perhaps be forced to withdraw more and more cash from ATMs . Instead, consumers should have the freedom to use the payment methods they prefer. Since we should almost certainly withdraw more and more cash from ATMs, we will do so in a market where we at least know how much we are going to spend. 

 

Antitrust has completely rejected Bancomat SpA’s proposal on the modification of the commission system to be applied to those who withdraw cash from ATMs. In practice, a bank customer can withdraw cash from all ATMs of all banks participating in the circuit. However, there is an interchange fee. This is the contribution that the bank that issued the card pays to the bank that owns the ATM where the withdrawal is made. Today the commission does not exceed 0.49 euros. Here’s what changes for users. The customer makes a cash withdrawal from an ATM. According to Bancomat’s proposal, he would have had to pay a commission, decided by the bank that owns the automatic teller machine for the operation. Not from the bank where you have the checking account. 

In July 2021 Bancomat SpA made small changes to its proposal: the bank commission would still be eliminated. It is the bank that owns the ATM that applies the commission to the withdrawer. The problem is the higher cap on the interchange fee . This is why Bancomat spa’s proposal has some limitations: it penalizes customers of banks that have fewer branches available. Even those wholly online are penalized, since the customer does not have ATMs in the area, he will have additional costs on cash withdrawals. Finally, the risk that many people who today do not pay fees for cash withdrawals find themselves forced to always have to pay a commission. 

Bancomat spa therefore proposes the development of an app for the geolocation of ATMs and to make known the cost of the withdrawal. This method does not solve the problem of pre-contractual information and consumer protection. The new rules proposed by Bancomat spa risk reducing competitiveness and the comparison between different products on the market. Not only on the cash withdrawal, but also on the checking account relationship. It is therefore good that the antitrust has blocked the proposed revision of the commissions created by Bancomat SpA

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  • Cash at the ATM, Antitrust says no to the chaos of commissions on withdrawals (altroconsumo.it)
 

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