Belgian Organisations Send Cash SOS
Mar 29, 2023
Belgian organisations have assembled to demand government action to tackle the decline of ATMs and thus free, equitable access to cash.
The SOS Cash campaign—available in Dutch, French, German and English—is calling on citizens to sign a pro-cash access petition addressed to Ministers Van Peteghem (Minister of Finance), Dermagne (Minister of Economy and Employment) and Bertrand (State Secretary for the Budget and Consumer Protection). The petition sets forth three requests:
- An immediate end to further withdrawal of ATMs
- A restoration of the number of ATMs present on 31 December 2021, with fair distribution throughout the country
- Immediate progress on legislature ensuring all bank customers have easy access to their cash
Behind the petition are Financité (a ‘lifelong education movement’ that uses varied outreach to challenge and raise awareness of responsible finance), OKRA (that organises cultural and educational events, including advocacy and consumer campaigning) and Test Achats (a fully independent consumer rights organisation).
The right to access one’s own money is a fundamental right… Our organisations keep getting complaints from angry clients who are not able to access their money when needed. The prevailing feeling is widely shared: while banks have a monopoly on deposits, they are preventing us from accessing our money when we want/need it.
The campaign website says that in Europe, Belgium has seen the highest number of ATM closures over the past five years, with ‘at least one bank branch closing every day’. It puts the number of ATMs across the country at over 8,000 in 2017, saying that by December 2021 there were just 5,900. By the end of 2024, it estimates the number will be below 4,000, meaning people will have to travel ever-longer distances to access their cash.
There is reason to be hopeful that some progress may be made this year, with the Belgian national government saying earlier this month that if it cannot reach a voluntary agreement with the banking sector by the end of March 2023, it will consider imposing legislation that mandates a minimum number of ATMs banks must provide.
For Belgian residents:
Click here to sign the petition. Click here for a printable version (including an address to which the completed petition can be sent).