Frankfurt In the future, the German savings banks will also rely on adhesive systems to protect against attacks on ATMs. “Of course, the savings banks will use the bonding technology as soon as possible at the locations where it makes sense,” said Joachim Schmalzl, board member of the German Savings Banks and Giro Association (DSGV) to the Handelsblatt.
“It is very clear that we have to use this option to protect against explosions,” emphasized the DSGV manager. The savings banks are the first in the German financial sector to announce the use of adhesive technology.
In addition, the public credit institutions are increasingly trying to protect the ATMs from being blown up. “Many savings banks are examining the use of steel pavilions for their ATMs,” explained Schmalzl. The structures are designed to withstand blasts. However, the DSGV cannot yet name the scope of the future use.
The sharp increase in the number of ATM demolitions, mostly at night, is forcing banks and savings banks to invest more in protective measures. With 496 cases, there were more explosions in 2022 than ever before. It was almost 30 percent more than a year earlier.
According to Schmalzl, the around 360 savings banks, market leaders in business with private customers, counted 211 blasts last year. In 2023, too, the number of attacks will remain high.
Mostly they are perpetrated by perpetrators from the Netherlands. In the particularly affected state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the State Criminal Police Office has already registered almost 70 blasts since the beginning of the year. In the same period last year there were 100 cases. In Rhineland-Palatinate, however, there were 18 attacks, slightly more than in 2022.
The federal and state governments are considering legal requirements
Only recently did the Bundesbank give the go-ahead for bonding technology in Germany. With this protective measure, which has been used in the Netherlands for a long time, the banknotes become a lump after the explosion, can no longer be used and usually no longer counted.
However, it is possible to trace the sum that was stolen from the ATM because the devices electronically record the sum contained at any given time. However, the adhesive system has not yet been certified and its use must be assessed in terms of occupational health and safety. The installation of the protection system is considered potentially dangerous – for example in the event that it is accidentally activated.
But Schmalzl warned against high expectations. “The bonding technique will not completely solve the problem of ATM demolitions. It’s not a panacea.” One has to assume that the perpetrators would not be completely deterred by this and would react with new, even more aggressive methods – “possibly also in the hope that not all the banknotes will be completely glued together,” he said.
According to the DSGV board, one of the reasons for dismantling ATMs is the high number of explosive attacks. Another is the reduced use of cash.
(Photo: Marc-Steffen Unger for Handelsblatt)
The increase in ATM demolitions has also called politicians into action. Some federal states are considering requiring financial institutions to take increased protective measures by law, as several state interior ministers recently told the Handelsblatt. The federal government also considers a legal regulation to be necessary if necessary.
So far there has been an agreement on voluntary steps. In November last year, the German banking industry, the joint interest group for banks and savings banks, declared its willingness to take preventive measures at a “round table” in the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
>> Read more here: At least one ATM is blown up every day
Many banks are now closing ATM locations at night, and the first have branches guarded by security personnel. They also often use video transmission systems, demolition and shake detectors, special security systems for windows and access doors, fogging technology and systems that discolour banknotes in the event of an explosion. This does not seem to bother the perpetrators: they also take discolored banknotes with them.
The savings banks reject a legal regulation. “A law does not automatically lead to more security,” said Schmalzl. The motivation of the credit institutes to limit the attacks is also very high.
The savings bank manager believes that one legal requirement is not flexible enough because the perpetrators are constantly adapting their attack methods. Therefore, even a new protective technology could not prevent the explosive attacks.
Schmalzl does not see the necessary investments for installing the protective measures as a problem. “The savings banks can bear the costs. It’s about finding the best protection methods for each location.” According to the DSGV, for example, the installation of the coloring technology costs a mid-range, four-digit sum per ATM.
Escape at 300 kilometers per hour
Not only do new protection systems cause more costs, insurance is also becoming more expensive. “One can assume that the premiums for insurance will increase in view of the many blasts,” said Schmalzl. “Savings banks can still insure the ATMs, the money in them and the branches. Whether the insurance covers the total damage or just the damage to the ATM itself depends on the policy.”
More and more credit institutions are installing ATMs in reinforced concrete pavilions made by the Veloform company. So far they are considered unbreakable.
(Photo: Veloform)
The DSGV manager emphasized that the destruction of the ATMs and the loss of money were the least of the savings banks’ worries. He pointed out the danger that people could be injured. Some ATMs are located on the ground floor of residential buildings, and hBuildings are often severely damaged by blasts. Experts consider it a fortunate coincidence that no bystanders have been seriously injured in the attacks, despite the debris and splinters flying around.
“In addition, savings banks lose a point of contact with their customers as a result of the blast and the often devastated branches. It often takes a year and a half before a branch can be used again.” This is because structural engineers often have to check the building first. “The savings banks are also struggling with the problem of finding craftsmen and getting material for repairs.”
The police assume that most of the crimes are committed by a criminal scene from the Netherlands, which is several hundred strong. They flee in high-powered cars and at speeds of up to 300 kilometers per hour, sometimes without lights. This is also very dangerous for bystanders. Police helicopters are often unable to follow the perpetrators’ cars because of the high speed, especially in the dark.
The savings banks have already responded to the attacks by dismantling ATMs. “When ATMs are dismantled, the risk of explosive attacks has a strong influence,” said Schmalzl. Even more important for the decline is that less cash is used. Consumers in Germany are increasingly paying by bank or credit card. “It can be assumed that the number of ATMs will continue to fall,” said Schmalzl.
At the end of 2021, the savings banks had around 21,600 ATMs, as Bundesbank figures show. In previous years, according to the DSGV, the number was stable at around 23,000. The information for the end of 2022 is not yet available. The Volks- und Raiffeisenbanken also dismantled a comparatively large number of ATMs in 2021 and 2022, the number fell by a total of 1800 to around 15,500.
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