According to the latest study by comparator Panorabanques, bank charges for misplaced withdrawals - in other words, the fees charged to customers of one bank when they withdraw money from another - will rise by 39% in 2022.
Bank charges increase with little notice
The Covid-19 pandemic has encouraged new payment habits. Cash payments, which had already been increasingly abandoned by the French in favor of bankcards, are now in sharp decline. As a result, withdrawals from ATMs have also become rarer, prompting several banks to close ATMs or pool their respective networks.
This decline in cash payments has tended to overshadow certain bank charges, which will nevertheless rise considerably in 2022. This is the case for displaced withdrawals, i.e. withdrawals made by customers of one bank in another branch network. According to a study by comparator Panorabanques, they will cost 39% more in 2022.
In 2021, a customer would pay an average of 8.60 euros per year for 4 withdrawals moved per month. In 2022, this average cost will rise to 12 euros per year for the same number of withdrawals.
Banks reduce the number of free mobile withdrawals
This increase in costs is due to the reduction in the number of free withdrawals. A total of 24 banks have opted to lower their numbers by 2022, including Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, Crédit Agricole Val de France and CIC.
Several banks have decided to reduce the number of free withdrawals from 4 to 2 per month. Classic bankcards are the main ones affected, while high-end cards have been spared these changes.
Only one bank, Crédit Agricole Sud Méditerranée, has chosen to go in the opposite direction and increase the number of free withdrawals with a classic card. This bank now allows its customers to make 4 withdrawals per month in another establishment without being charged, compared with just 3 last year.
The CLCV consumer association had already noted this reduction infree withdrawalsin its annual study, Bank charges survey 2022: increases here toopublished on January 4. It is concerned by this decision taken by many banks, at a time when the trend is to reduce the number of ATMs and branches.
The Indecosa CGT consumer association fears that the increase in the cost of withdrawals will primarily penalize less affluent customers, who make greater use of cash.
The issue of banking inclusion is at the heart of a manifesto published on January 18 by some fifty trade unions, associations and political parties.
In particular, the authors of the manifesto call on the public authorities " to create the conditions to ensure the continued use of free means of payment for the entire population (cash and cheques) ".