Minister Heinen: Cash is for everyone. For a large group of people, paying with cash is important because they struggle to navigate digital payment systems or prefer to pay in cash for other reasons. It is also important to have cash available in case of a card malfunction. Therefore, cash must remain accessible. This law ensures that.
The draft law contains several important measures. Large banks will be legally required to maintain the current national infrastructure of ATMs. This means there must be a working ATM within a radius of 5 kilometers. Currently, there are voluntary agreements in place, but these have proven insufficient to guarantee the accessibility of cash in the future.
The law stipulates that no fees will be passed on to private customers of large banks when withdrawing cash in the future. Maximum fees will apply to other account holders, such as entrepreneurs.
Additionally, customers of both large and medium-sized banks will now be able to deposit banknotes at ATMs. For individuals, this will be free of charge. Banks can use the ATM network of Geldmaat for this purpose. The deposit obligation will apply to medium-sized banks with more than 500,000 customers. Small banks are exempted.
Mandatory Acceptance of Cash
The House of Representatives recently adopted a proposal for a national mandatory acceptance of cash payments up to €3000. The Senate still needs to vote on the proposal. Currently, exceptions are being mapped out, for example, due to safety concerns.