Transactions at bank counters, down - BoA: 4.5% fewer transactions were carried out during the first quarter
Albanians have made fewer cash transactions at physical bank branches during the first quarter of the year. The latest data from the Bank of Albania shows that in January-March, 863 thousand cash transactions were recorded at the cash desk, which amounted to a total value of 361 billion lek.
Specifically, compared to the first quarter of 2024, we have a 4.5% decrease in cash register transactions and a 6.2% decrease compared to the last 3 months of the year.
Most cash transactions at the cash register were deposits and a small portion were withdrawals. According to official statistics, Albanians deposited 123 billion lek at the cash register during the first three months of the year, while they withdrew 94 billion lek at physical counters. The difference between money withdrawn from ATMs and at physical bank counters appears to have widened in this quarter, meaning even more money was withdrawn from ATMs than from physical bank cash registers.
Meanwhile, in terms of periodic transactions, such as credit and debit transfers, they appear to have increased. The majority of credit transfers were debit interest payments and only a small number were loan disbursements. However, the amount of deposit interest payments was lower than loan disbursements, specifically 11 billion and 24 billion lek.
Even if we refer to debit transfers, credit card repayments reached 3.9 billion lek, while the amount of loan installment payments was many times higher, namely 17 billion lek.
This decline in cash transactions may be an indicator of citizens' orientation towards electronic transactions, however, it remains to be seen in the coming months whether the trend will continue to be downward or the same.
Although the number of cashier transactions has decreased and banks offer some services on their applications or online sites, the queue of citizens to make payments at the cashier counter near the physical bank branch continues to be long, while cashier services are the most sought-after.
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