Bereikbaarheid van geldautomaten wordt ronduit rampzalig
![Foto: iStock. 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Geldautomaten verdwijnen zienderogen. De helft van de Vlaamse dorpen heeft zelfs geen enkel automaat meer. “Dit is een onaanvaardbare evolutie”, zegt Kamerlid Reccino Van Lommel. “Voor veel mensen is cash geld een noodzakelijk betaalmiddel. De automaten moeten net beter beschikbaar zijn dan vandaag het geval is.” Het Vlaams Belang roept minister van Werk Pierre-Yves Dermagne (PS) op om dringend werk te maken van regelgeving over de bereikbaarheid van geldautomaten.
De bankensector stoot om besparingsredenen momenteel niet enkel kantoren af, maar dus ook geldautomaten. “De klassieke grootbanken zoals Belfius, ING, KBC en Fortis hanteren daarbij de grove bijl”, aldus Van Lommel. “We spreken bij hen over 40 procent minder afhaallocaties dan twee jaar geleden.” De Europese Centrale Bank gaf onlangs te kennen dat nergens in Europa de frustratie over het tekort aan geldautomaten zo groot is als in dit land.
“Dermagne moet nu ingrijpen en zorgen voor voldoende geldautomaten”
“Cash geld is een wettig betaalmiddel en moet steeds beschikbaar zijn”, vervolgt Van Lommel. “Niet alleen voor de kwetsbare en oudere mensen, voor wie de snelle digitalisering problematisch is, maar ook voor de handelaars. Contant geld wordt vandaag nog heel vaak gebruikt bij kleinere aankopen. De banken brengen met hun platte besparingsoperaties al deze mensen in de problemen.”
Regelgeving over de bereikbaarheid van geldautomaten is in dit land nog steeds onbestaande. Minister van Werk Pierre-Yves Dermagne (PS) slaagt er niet in een akkoord te vinden met de bankensector waarbij stedelingen zich maximaal twee kilometer zouden moeten verplaatsen om geld af te halen, en plattelandsbewoners vijf kilometer. “Wanneer er tegen eind maart hierover geen akkoord mogelijk zou blijken, zou Dermagne de situatie wettelijk regelen”, zegt Van Lommel. “Welnu, morgen is het de laatste dag van maart en loopt dat ultimatum af, en een compromis lijkt nog heel ver weg. De minister moet zich nu aan zijn woord houden en ingrijpen. Een goede bereikbaarheid van geldautomaten is geen overbodige luxe maar een noodzaak.”