E-Payments: France to shut 14 cash-handling centres by 2022

*14 Cash centres to close by end of 2022 with cash use seen falling 25 percent in France, as the Coronavirus pandemic accelerates the decline of cash in the country

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Besides concerns about possible virus contagion through bank notes in the country, the Bank of France will shut down more than a third, or 40 percent of its cash handling centres by the end of 2022 as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerates a decline in the use of notes and coins towards a cashless economy.

It was gathered that operations would cease at 14 of the 37 centres that stock currency and replace damaged notes and coins.

The country’s Central Bank estimates the network would be 40 percent underused if it remains as expansive as it is now.

Lockdowns to curb virus infections were said to have pushed more shoppers onto online platforms, while the raising of the ceiling for contactless payments has encouraged card use.

There are also concerns over contagion via bank notes, although the central bank has denied there are risks, report stated.

That’s given extra impetus to the decline in cash usage, which already fell 20 percent between 2012 and 2019.

Erick Lacourrege, Managing Director of Cash, Branches and Services at the Bank of France, said the Central Bank expects a further 25 percent drop by 2022 from last year’s levels.

France, along with the Netherlands and Finland, is one of the Euro-area countries where consumers have traditionally favoured cards over cash.

In contrast, Germany, Spain and Italy have been much slower to move away from notes and coins.

Lacourrege noted: “There’s a generalised decline in the use of cash throughout the world,” but “the speed of decline isn’t the same in every country, and France is one place where it is falling the fastest in the euro area.”

Report indicates the closures will impact 134 people at the Bank of France, he said. They’ll be offered early retirement packages, retraining for other jobs, or posts in cash centres that remain open.