Having earned almost a billion euros in net profit last year, Lithuanian banks are closing customer service departments one after the other in the regions - according to them, they make such a decision after assessing people's needs.
However, some parliamentarians and the Central Bank of Lithuania (LB) miss their efforts to find customer-friendly service methods.
Conservative Antanas Čepononis is indignant that banks, while earning millions of profits, do not allocate funds for setting up branches.
"If you look at the profitability of banks, profits will double in 2022-2023, and services will be further removed from the population. It doesn't matter that it is a private commercial institution, but it performs services for which we pay, and if we pay, there should be some kind of discussion," said the parliamentarian in the Budget and Finance Committee of the Seimas this week.
One of the managers of LB says that banks should find a service model acceptable to people, which is compatible with their expectations - the number of people who want to manage their financial affairs in a bank branch, rather than online, is not decreasing.
"There is a very large majority of customers who wish to quickly and efficiently receive payment services through digital channels (...), but the group of users for whom the opportunity to receive services via contact at physical service points is important", Asta, deputy chairman of the LB board, said in the committee Kuniyoshi.
"Financial market participants should take into account the needs of customers and provide such an acceptable service model that is compatible with customer expectations and, most importantly, that meets the needs of the most socially sensitive groups," asserted the representative of LB.
According to A. Kuniyoshi, several municipalities have already approached the central bank, concerned about the closure of branches.
At that time, the head of the Lithuanian Banks Association (LBA), Eivilė Čipkutė, assures that banks are closing branches because residents are coming less and less often.
"The digitization of the economy and the changing habits of the majority of society as a result - people's use of live services falls sharply and the vast majority switch to digital services," E. Čipkutė said in the committee.
According to her, research shows that last year 62 percent Lithuanian residents have never visited banks.
According to E. Čipkutė, there are now 380 branches of banks and credit unions operating in Lithuania. They decrease by approximately 4 percent per year.
E. Čipkutė indicated that Lithuania does not stand out in the European Union in terms of the number of bank branches: there are approximately 100 branches per 11 thousand inhabitants in Lithuania, in Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Germany have fewer of them, and the Netherlands has at least 5,5 chapters. The most chapters per hour in Bulgaria – 60,5, Luxembourg – 56,5, Spain, Italy, France – 33-37 chapters per 100 thousand. population.
"The Southern European region is less digitized, it is difficult to digitize," said the head of the association.
According to LB, there are now 1146 ATMs operating in Lithuania. In 2022, 100 additional ATMs were completed - this is how the agreement between commercial banks and the central bank on better service availability for residents was implemented.
Currently, over 2,2 thousand also operate. "Perlo" terminals, cash dispensing service is also available in retail chains, "Narvesen", "Lietuvos spaudos" kiosks, in total - about 4 thousand. points.
The author is Sniegė Balčiūnaitė
