One in three Maltese find it ‘difficult’ to access ATMs and bank branches

Despite living in the smallest EU member state, the Maltese are the most likely in the European Union to report “difficulties” in withdrawing cash at ATMs or physical banks.

Respondents answering a Eurobarometer survey on financial services were asked to state “how easy or difficult is it to withdraw cash at ATMs or physical bank branches in the area they live in”.

In an indication that ATMs and physical branches are not that accessible in Malta, 10% of Maltese replied that they find withdrawing money “very difficult” while 25% replied that they find this “rather difficult”.

Among all EU respondents only 3% find withdrawing from ATMs and bank branches “very difficult” while 10% find this to be “rather difficult”.

A comparison between different countries shows that the proportion of respondents replying that withdrawing cash at ATMs or physical bank branches is easy is above 60% in all countries, ranging from 64% in Malta, 67% in Belgium and 68% in Denmark to 95% in Bulgaria, and 93% in Croatia. In Sweden, Finland, Slovakia, and Slovenia, almost two-thirds of respondents almost two-thirds of respondents think it is ‘very easy’ to withdraw cash at ATMs or physical bank branches in the area where they live.

The survey results come in the wake of the closure of eight HSBC branches in Birżebbuġa, Cospicua, Fgura, Ħamrun, Marsascala, St Julian’s and St Paul’s Bay in 2019.  In the next year HSBC had also announced that its branches in Mellieħa, San Ġwann, Żabbar and Żebbuġ, will not be reopening after their closure during the COVID-19 pandemic.

HSBC said the closures reflected the continued increase of digital banking services during the pandemic.

The availability of ATMs in Malta is almost one and a half times as high as in the rest of the euro area, according to a report published in the Central Bank’s quarterly review in 2020.  The average for the euro area is 65.1 ATMs per 100,000 persons, while in Malta the ratio is 96. But the ratio was heavily influenced by the large number of ATMs operated by Euronet, which is not a local banking institution.

In fact, if one were to exclude Euronet from the figures, the number of ATMs per 100,000 persons stands at 49.0 – considerably lower than the eurozone average. Moreover, ATMs tend to be concentrated in specific areas of the island. No less than 44 per cent of all ATMs can be found in the northern harbour region, concentrated around Sliema, St Julian’s and Paceville. A further 23 per cent are found in the north, predominantly in the touristic areas of Mellieħa, Qawra and Buġibba.