Bancomat, the Antitrust disappoints the big banks on the new commissions
New Bancomat commissions: according to Il Sole 24 Ore, the Antitrust rejects Bancomat Spa's project to reform the remuneration system for the circular cash withdrawal service from ATMs. Facts, numbers, rumors and insights
The Guarantor of the market and competition disappoints the big banks on the new ATM commissions.
WHY THE AGCM REJECTS THE BANCOMAT PROJECT ON THE NEW COMMISSIONS
According to rumors from the Sole 24 Ore , the Antitrust rejects the Bancomat Spa project presented way back on 5 October 2020 to reform the remuneration system for the circular cash withdrawal service from ATMs. According to reports from Il Sole 24 Ore, the Authority chaired by Roberto Rustichelli closed the procedure on Wednesday 30 November and is preparing to inform the market of the negative outcome of the investigation.
The Confindustria newspaper adds: "It seems that the basis for the pronouncement of the Competition and Market Guarantor Authority (Agcm) is the negative opinion expressed by the body's technical offices, which considered the proposal submitted by Bancomat Spa not acceptable. In particular, the new remuneration model for cash withdrawals constitutes an anti-competitive agreement in relation to Article 101, paragraph 3 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and the proponent has not fulfilled the burden of proof that on the same incumbent, not having presented sufficient elements to demonstrate the presence of the four conditions envisaged by the law".
WHO IS ATM SPA
Chaired by Franco Dalla Sega, as of 29 December Bancomat boasted 116 shareholders – including Intesa Sanpaolo (31.55%), Unicredit (18.92%), Iccrea (11.2%), Banco Bpm (7.67%) , Montepaschi (7.56%), Bnl-Bnp (5%), Bper (4.71%), Cassa Centrale (2.79%) – and 210 institutions belonging to the Bancomat and PagoBancomat circuits.
In 2021, the company made over 210 billion transactions thanks to 34 million cards in circulation and saw its turnover grow by 29% to 25.8 million euros. Card transactions increased by 44%.
THE INVESTIGATION PROCESS ON BANCOMAT SPA
As will be recalled, in September 2021 Piazza Verdi had already decided to lengthen the proceedings following the further forecasts communicated by Bancomat SpA on 28 July and concerning – as reported in the Authority's weekly Bulletin – "the profiles of transparency, costs for issuing banks and quantifying the withdrawal commission”.
WHAT THE ANTITRUST MUST EVALUATE ON THE BANCOMAT PROJECT
More than 2 years ago , the Authority chaired by Roberto Rustichelli started the procedure on the project following a communication sent by Bancomat Spa, which as of 29 December last boasted 116 shareholders – including Intesa Sanpaolo (31.55%), Unicredit ( 18.92%), Iccrea (11.2%), Banco Bpm (7.67%), Montepaschi (7.56%), Bnl-Bnp (5%), Bper (4.71%), Cassa Centrale ( 2.79%) – and 210 institutions adhering to the Bancomat and PagoBancomat circuits.
In Piazza Verdi, the company chaired by Franco Dalla Sega (managing director and general manager is Alessandro Zollo) essentially asked to evaluate this "alternative model" starting from the most important innovations, namely the abolition of the interchange commission and the payment of the commission applied withdrawal – by the consumer – directly from the credit institution where the ATM is located.
The hypothesized new model , as stated in the opening provision, "would involve the elimination of the interbank commissions currently associated with ATM withdrawals". The modification of the remuneration model “would be justified by the increase in the costs sustained by the banks in the management of ATMs, linked to the technological evolution of such equipment and to the greater risks associated with more sophisticated fraudulent initiatives; costs which, in many cases, would be greater than the amount of the interchange fee. The new remuneration system, on the other hand, would encourage greater investments by ATM owners on the related equipment, to the benefit of the consumer audience".
The Competition and Market Authority has the task of assessing "whether the new circuit rules can configure an agreement capable of restricting or distorting competition in the common market, pursuant to article 101 of the TFEU (Treaty of Functioning of the 'European Union, ed)". It is therefore necessary to examine whether "the coordination of the market behavior of the subjects participating in the Bancomat Consortium, which occurs on the basis of the provisions of the new rules for the remuneration of circular withdrawals, involves a restriction of competition, also taking into account the impact on the competitive capacity of the various operators, also in consideration of the different extension of the ATM network".
THE FEARS OF THE MINOR BANKS
While awaiting the outcome of the Agcm assessment, there are above all the smaller institutions that could be damaged by the innovations presented by Bancomat SpA At least this is what is circulating in Assopopular i, the association chaired by Corrado Sforza Fogliani. The purpose of the proposal – he argues – is to encourage customers of small and medium-sized banks to move their accounts to larger institutions, which – in addition to a greater number of branches scattered throughout the country – have sufficient economic resources to maintain the cost of the circular withdrawal service is free or which allow you to charge smaller amounts than those of popular banks. A project, that of Bancomat SpA, which would therefore lead to a competitive disadvantage of medium-small institutions compared to large ones.
THE AIM OF THE PROJECT OF THE LARGE BANKS
At the basis of the project is the idea of letting each individual bank that owns the ATM decide the cost of the withdrawal operations carried out by the customers of competing banks, Il Sole 24 Ore underlined today: "A novelty expected above all by the large companies banks that have numerous ATMs along the peninsula, but which has thrown into turmoil online banks and local ones that do not have a large number of branches or ATMs within their membership groups”. In the second proposal, Bancomat Spa had set a maximum ceiling on the commission applied to withdrawals of 1.50 euro. A cap that was not enough to convince the technical offices of the Antitrust. According to reports from Il Sole 24 Ore, the Bank of Italy itself had expressed its perplexities in recent months.
WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH ATM FEES TODAY
Today the possibility of making withdrawals with an ATM card at the ATM of a bank other than the issuing bank is offered free of charge by various institutions, in particular by online banks. And regardless of whether or not to charge a customer an expense, with the current system the bank issuing the card must pay the bank that owns the ATM an interbank commission of 49 euro cents for each withdrawal.
With the new model proposed by Bancomat Spa – underlined Il Sole 24 Ore – “there was the fear that, once a cap was set at 1.50 euro, all the banks would align themselves with it, as happened, for example, with the commission on 'agreement for overdrafts on current accounts which provides for a cap of 0.5% per quarter, a value that all banks apply today. There were therefore all the prerequisites for seeing an adjustment of the cost of circular withdrawals to 1.50 euros, with a significant increase in costs for those who do not pay for that operation today".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/bancomat-lantitrust-delude-le-grandi-banche-sulle-nuove-commissioni/ on Fri, 02 Dec 2022 07:26:03 +0000.