Households continue to increase their savings despite inflation and already have 989,100 million in deposits, 4.76% more than a year earlier
Banks and savings banks continue to reduce the number of ATMs, which fell to 45,288 units in the third quarter of this year, 5.81% less than a year earlier and 2.67% less than the previous quarter, according to published data from the Bank of Spain . It is the lowest number since the year 2000, when there were 44,851 ATMs. From June to September, 1,302 ATMs disappeared. In these more than two decades, the highest level was reached in 2008, with 61,714 ATMs. That year, the global financial crisis erupted and banking entities began a restructuring process, with branch closures and staff and ATM reductions, accelerated by digitization and the decreasing use of cash in purchases.
In contrast, the number of POS terminals (known as POS terminals) grew by 8.23% in the third quarter compared to a year earlier, reaching 2.36 million POS terminals and card payments through these POS terminals. 17.76% in the interannual rate (15.35% in amount), reaching all-time highs. However, these percentages are more moderate than those of previous quarters of this year, which were close to 30% in some cases. Meanwhile, ATM withdrawals in the third quarter of this year only increased by 1.35% (5% in amount) over the same period of the previous year. Cash withdrawals from ATMs have declined significantly since the coronavirus pandemic: if more than 900 million transactions were made in 2019, they barely exceeded 652 million in 2021, and this year they have reached less than half a million so far reaches. .
Credit cards grew by 6.72%, offsetting the 4.20% drop in debit cards.
Card payment commissions paid by businesses averaged 0.39% in the third quarter, with a minimum commission of 0.23% and a maximum commission of 0.71%. By type of establishment, supermarkets (0.23%) and gas stations (0.34%) are entities that pay the least, while hotels (0.71%) and car rentals (0.62%) are the highest rates.
Despite inflation, households are continuing to save, probably driven by uncertainty about the economic slowdown expected next year – although major organizations are ruling out a recession in Spain -. Household savings amounted to EUR 989,100 million in November, an increase of 4.76% compared to the same month last year and 0.21% more than in October this year. Corporate deposits, for their part, rose by 2.16% this year to EUR 312,600 million, or by 0.94% compared to October. The pool of deposits from households and businesses based in Spain amounted to 1.3 trillion euros last November, up 4.12% year-on-year and up 0.38% from October, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Spain.
The deposits of all residents of Spain reached 1.615 trillion euros in November, 0.98% more in the interannual rate.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
