Trouble for ATMs in Brandenburg: closed in the evening and on weekends!

Trouble for ATMs in Brandenburg: closed in the evening and on weekends!

In Brandenburg an der Havel, an ATM from the Mittelbrandenburg Sparkasse (MBS) ensures resentment among the residents. The machine, which is located in the shopping arcade in Werner-Seelenbinder-Straße, remains hardly accessible in the evening and on weekends. The closing times are from Monday to Friday at 5 p.m. and on Saturday at 12 p.m. The machine is not accessible on Sunday because the passage remains closed. These restrictions are particularly frustrating because the machine has been defective for a few days. The withdrawal of cash is therefore impossible for many customers, such as maz-online.de reported. A sign with the inscription "Defect" was attached to the machine by Tobias Unzerseher, an employee of the nearby baker Thonke.

The head of the North District Library, Manuel Nieme, also heard of the faults by the machine. Although a technician has already been called, a repair has so far been eliminated. This problem has also called on the residents and the North Citizens' Advisory Board, which are surprised by the choice of location of the machine. MBS praises the location as "central and easily accessible", but it was wrongly stated that the machine was open around the clock. In fact, the machine is only accessible from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

a lack of alternatives

The situation for the older Generation of the district is particularly worrying, which, according to Anja Weinkauf, feels disadvantaged by the citizens' advisory board. It calls for 24-hour access to an ATM and the relocation of the machine to another location. After all, there has been no Sparkasse branch in the north since October 2023. The only way to withdraw cash is at the Edeka market, but where a purchase is necessary for five euros.

A total of 39 ATMs are available in Brandenburg on the Havel, divided into different groups, including 16 machines from savings banks. But the accessibility remains a big topic, because the average distance to a cash reference point nationwide is 1.4 kilometers and 95.3 % of the population, a maximum of five kilometers from such a place, as the Bundesbank analyzed.

In urban areas, people are usually even closer to an ATM than in rural regions. However, access to cash in Germany has deteriorated between 2021 and 2023, which also explains the increasing resentment of the accessibility of resorts. More and more citizens feel that access is complicated, which is also reflected in the concerns of the residents in north.