In Latvia, the law will guarantee the availability of cash

As the third criterion for the determination of significant credit institutions, the condition that the deposits of domestic households in the credit institution on December 31 of the previous year constitute at least 5% of the total deposits of domestic households in credit institutions registered in Latvia, branches of foreign credit institutions in Latvia and branches of credit institutions registered in other member states in Latvia.

In the current market situation, the four largest credit institutions operating in Latvia in terms of the number of customer payment accounts and the volume of domestic household deposits are recognized as important credit institutions, namely AS “Swedbank”, AS “SEB banka”, AS “Citadele banka” and the Latvian branch of “Luminor Bank”, which according to the regulations of the Bank of Latvia, there are also providers of critical financial services.

Other credit institutions operating in Latvia are currently not close to the thresholds of the quantitative criteria defined in the draft law, which allows the FM to predict that in the near future, changes in the circle of credit institutions meeting the criteria of significant credit institutions are not expected.

Also, until now, there are no requirements in the regulatory enactments regarding the main tool for providing the cash payment service – ATMs. The FM draws attention to the fact that the currently valid legal acts do not set requirements for credit institutions regarding the geographical location, number, minimum operating time of ATMs, as well as the limits of cash that can be withdrawn without commission, thus not limiting the freedom of action of credit institutions in providing essential services to the public.

In the last decade, the range and availability of face-to-face services provided by credit institutions has significantly decreased in many places in Latvia. This has created a significant risk of availability or even disappearance of cash payment services, the FM admits.

The draft law envisages supplementing the Law on Credit Institutions with an article that sets requirements regarding the geographical location, number and minimum operating time of ATMs, as well as the limit of free availability of the cash withdrawal service at ATMs. The draft law provides for the types of requirements to be determined for the cash payment service, but the determination of their numerical values ​​and permissible deviations is expected to be delegated to the Bank of Latvia.