Overview

• The Austrian lender has removed ATMs and stopped dispensing cash in its German branches, citing a sustained drop in withdrawals as more customers pay by card or app.
• Oberbank operates 46 branches in Germany; conversions at 16 southern locations began on July 31 and are scheduled to finish by the end of September, with sites such as Bamberg already decommissioned.
• The bank directs customers to withdraw at supermarkets and nearby shops, to use card payments, and to rely on online banking, and it says these alternatives do not incur customer charges.
• Germany’s coalition plans to require businesses to offer at least one digital payment option, with the Finance Ministry working on an implementation timeline and industry groups seeking guardrails on processing fees.
• Authorities frame wider digital acceptance as an anti-fraud tool, noting that electronic payments leave an auditable trail and citing Bundesrechnungshof estimates of roughly €20 billion in directly evaded taxes annually in cash‑intensive sectors.