Deputies counted fewer than 500 ATMs in Cyprus

Members of the Trade Committee of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of an adequate number of ATMs on the island. Currently, there are fewer than 500 of them in the country.

The committee chairman and member of the Disy party, Kyriakos Hadjiyiannis, noted that he had contacted banks on this issue, but financial institutions responded that they were not concerned about it.

According to the parliamentarian, instead of expanding the ATM network, credit organizations are focused on implementing new technologies, particularly cashback.

The deputy emphasized that banks are "devoid of social responsibility" because these new technologies do not work fully, are unknown to the market, consumers, and shop owners.

"With great disappointment, we received this negative response from banks. It is extremely important for elderly people to be able to use banking services, it is their right to receive money at a reasonable distance from their place of residence," the elected representative believes.

Another deputy, Kostas Kostas, noted that he is very disappointed that bank representatives and the Central Bank are ignoring this problem and stating that installing ATMs would be unprofitable because the service costs are too high. Instead, they proposed "alternative solutions that elderly people cannot use."

"They seem to live in a parallel universe. They do not live in the real world, they do not want to know what is happening in villages where pensioners suffer," the parliamentarian complained.

He also noted that the situation worsened after the scandalous closure of the Cooperative Bank.

A deputy from the Green Party, Stavros Papadouris, suggested placing ATMs near police stations, as they exist in many villages. In his opinion, this would solve both security and banking service coverage issues in small communities.