A sign of the times, Desjardins Group customers will no longer be able to use the ancestor of AccèsD, the cash book. The notebook used to record transactions will cease to exist in November, after more than 120 years of use.
• Read also: Desjardins: disappearance of nearly 30% of service centers since 2015
The presence in ATMs of the booklet, as old as the financial institution itself, had declined over the years, so much so that the supplier who printed it announced the end of production at Desjardins.
“We therefore made the choice to remove the booklets on November 19,” said Jean-Benoît Turcotti, spokesperson for Desjardins.
The company says 270,000 customers still use it, or 6% of its 4.5 million members.
The majority of these 270,000 people are over 70 and at least 33% of them already use online services through AccèsD.
“We know that people were attached to the booklet and we will support them in the transition,” adds the spokesperson.
Those who want to track their daily expenses can always go to the ATM to view their most recent transactions and even print them on a receipt.
As of November 19, a paper statement will automatically be sent to the 270,000 passbook owners.
Accompaniment
The cooperative movement recognizes that it is coming to “change people’s habits” and that there will be time to adapt.
If the cash book was almost no longer used – it was updated once a month or less by 75% of its users – its disappearance will still be a shock for some.
“Support for technological tools is nothing new for us,” explains Jean-Benoît Turcotti.
Customers who wish can make an appointment or go to a branch to have an agent give them a mini-training.
Fewer checkouts and counters
However, these customers will have less choice than before for where to go, as service center closures have multiplied at Desjardins in recent years.
They have fallen from 1,122 in 2015 to 790 at the start of 2022, a decrease of almost 30%.
Transactions carried out at the counter, in a service centre, only represented 1% of the total at that time.
The company also plans to put an end to ATMs in 2028.
When its park of ATMs was completely revamped in 2019, Desjardins announced that they would be the last to serve Quebecers.
“We really want to make a shift towards mobile, the smart phone. Not the tablet, not the computer!” had then indicated Thursday Guy Cormier, president of Desjardins.