Reutlingen (dpa/lsw) - From the point of view of the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative Association (BWGV), ATMs are becoming less important. Increasingly, people are using their smartphones to pay, and more and more cash can also be withdrawn from food retailers, BWGV President Roman Glaser told the "Reutlinger General-Anzeiger" (Saturday). Nevertheless, the number of member banks' self-service points has risen from 639 to 717 within five years.
In 2017 there were still 2,700 bank branches at the cooperative banks in Baden-Württemberg, Glaser made it clear. At the end of 2021 there were 2263. With the savings banks, 1,840 bank branches would be added. "Together there are more than 4,000 regional bank branches in 1,100 municipalities in the country," he calculated. "To say that we would massively withdraw from the area would not be correct." However, the number of main offices fell from 180 to 144 and that of branches from 2,520 to 2,119.
Volksbanks and Raiffeisenbanks are organized as cooperatives. Glaser ruled out that there could be a Volksbank Baden-Württemberg in view of mergers. "We currently have some fusion projects that have been stopped," he said. "Maybe they're going to be more aggressive about it today and say they're going to check again."
