Bankcard service network

Bankcard service network logo

The Bankcard Service Network ( Spelling BankCard ServiceNetz , or BSN for short ) is an association of most German cooperative banks that enables customers to withdraw cash free of charge from all member banks' ATMs using their debit card . The corresponding association for cross-bank use of account statement printers is called Bankcard-Accountinfo .

The Bankcard service network comprises around 19,200 ATMs, making it the second largest network, directly behind that of the savings banks with around 25,700 ATMs.

Practically all Volksbanks and Raiffeisenbanks as well as other banks affiliated with the Federal Association of German Volksbanks and Raiffeisenbanks belong to it. The only exception is the Sylter Bank (as of February 2017).

Some banks are double members in the Bankcard service network and in the cash pool , whereby these often have restrictions on the use of ATMs of the Bankcard service network for their own customers, for example with regard to the amount of free withdrawals. However, the Sylter Bank is currently not included in the cash pool.

Other systems for using ATMs are the Cash Group, an association of private banks, and the network of savings banks .

Settlement between banks

The banks participating in the Bankcard service network mutually charge each other for cash withdrawals from customers of another participant a reduced rate of max. 2.05 euros, but mostly 1.02 euros. The card-issuing bank pays up to EUR 1.02 of this fee, so that the disposal is usually free of charge for the customer. This procedure is intended to ensure that each participating bank can also derive an economic benefit from the installation and operation of ATMs and that no bank relies solely on the activities of other banks in the network.

Problems for banks with dispersed customers

For smaller banks and those that traditionally address a scattered clientele, the offset method results in the problem that they cannot generate the fee income with their own ATMs that their own customers generate at third-party ATMs: for example, there are often only church banks at administrative locations of the respective church, the Pax-Bank for example at the bishops' seats in Aachen, Cologne and Erfurt, while the clientele is widely distributed. In this case, the problem arises for the bank that its customers have no practicable possibility of using their own machines and that third-party customers only occasionally make disposals. This also applies to small Volksbanks and Raiffeisenbanks whose business area is in satellite towns and whose customers make a large number of cash withdrawals in larger neighboring towns. However, the withdrawal from the bank card service network is also associated with the loss of a feature that is relevant for many customers - easy and cheap availability of cash.

Double members Cashpool & Bankcard service network

The following banks are members of both the Cashpool and the Bankcard service network. Restrictions for their customers when using ATMs of the Bankcard service network are listed, if known:

• BBBank eG
  • Assumes the fee of 1.02 euros for its own customers for up to two disposals per month, after which it is calculated. For free cash withdrawals, refer to cash pool machines.
• Social Economy Bank
  • Bankcard service network machines cannot be used free of charge by their own customers; the reduced fee applies. For free cash withdrawals, refer to cash pool machines.
• Sparda banks
  • Bankcard service network machines cannot be used free of charge by their own customers; the reduced fee applies. For free cash withdrawals, refer to cash pool machines.
• Pax bank

Former dual members of the Cashpool & Bankcard service network

• PSD banks
  • All PSD banks offer their customers at least four free cash withdrawals at Bankcard ATMs per month, or a corresponding number per quarter. The only exception is the PSD Bank Hannover, which does not offer current accounts. About half of the PSD banks offer five or even an unlimited number of cash withdrawals at Bankcard ATMs. If the number of free items is exhausted, the bank's own costs of 1.02 euros per ruling are incurred.

Web links

• List of participating banks on the website of the Federal Association of German Volksbanks and Raiffeisenbanks (PDF)

credentials

1. ↑ Banks not participating in the BankCard ServiceNetz . Federal Association of German Volksbanks and Raiffeisenbanks , as of February 15, 2017, accessed on May 18, 2017 (PDF).