Latvia: Big banks obliged to improve customer service in regions

The Latvian parliament, the Saeima, has passed amendments mandating the country’s largest banks to provide in-person customer service and to maintain a network of ATMs outside big cities as of 2026, LSM reported. The new rules will apply to Swedbank, SEB, Citadele, and Luminor. Currently, the big banks have no permanent customer service points in around half of all municipalities in Latvia. Also, the parliament has passed amendments that will remove Russian as a language option on ATMs, LSM reports. Under the amendments, the customer user interface on ATM screens has to be in Latvian, and additional options can only be in the official languages of EU and OECD member states. Currently, most ATMs in Latvia provide options for Latvian, English, and Russian. The changes will take effect on 30 January 2025.