Bank ATM outages rise after call for more cash

ATM outages in the Netherlands have become more frequent, with many machines out of service due to maintenance or malfunctions. For nearly a year and a half, banks have struggled to keep the number of these breakdowns under control, according to data from Geldmaat, the company responsible for managing the country's cash machines, NOS reports.

Last year, the problem worsened, especially in December, when ATM outages were at their peak. According to Geldmaat, the situation was influenced by a call from the Dutch Banking Association (NVB) urging citizens to withdraw more cash. This surge in demand was compounded by NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte's warning to citizens to prepare for potential war.

"This led to a sudden increase in demand for cash, even in areas where behavior is usually quite predictable," said a Geldmaat spokesperson. December typically sees higher cash withdrawals, which further increases the likelihood of machines running out of cash.

In addition to these factors, the collapse of Blokker, a major Dutch retail chain, contributed to the issue. Nine Blokker stores had ATMs that were removed after the company went bankrupt, which affected the availability of machines.

Geldmaat, which manages the installation and maintenance of ATMs for banks, has agreements with consumer organizations and De Nederlandsche Bank regarding the number and operational reliability of these machines. However, while the number of machines has met expectations, the availability target has not. The standard is for ATMs to be operational 97.5 percent of the time, a benchmark that was only achieved in February.

Geldmaat is now calling for a new approach to measuring ATM availability. The company suggests that the current standard should account not only for broken machines but also for the presence of nearby ATMs that are operational. According to Geldmaat, this is usually the case.

"The current standard can only be met if everything goes smoothly," the spokesperson said. "This was also true when ATMs were still managed by banks, but back then, no formal standard existed. Additionally, there were more ATMs, so you could usually find another machine nearby."

The most significant problems have been with ATMs that allow bill deposits. On average, nearly one in 17 of these machines was out of service (5.8 percent), while the standard is 3.5 percent. However, ATMs for coin deposits performed better, meeting the target last year.

In response to these issues, Geldmaat has replaced 2,500 ATMs over the past year, which should make them less prone to breakdowns. However, this replacement process led to several machines being out of service for days at a time.

There are currently no penalties for the banks. These standards are not legally binding. Last year, the Ministry of Finance expressed concern about the failure to meet the goals. In a new statement, the Ministry confirmed that Geldmaat had promised improvements.

In response to ongoing issues with cash accessibility, the Dutch government is preparing a law requiring banks to provide sufficient options for cash withdrawals. The proposed legislation is expected to be presented to the Dutch House of Representatives next month.