Global ATM numbers slide for first time as digital mobile payments rise

After the last global financial crisis, Paul Volcker, former chairman of the federal reserve and chairman of the Obama administration’s advisory board on economic recovery, said ATM is the last financial innovation to improve human society.

Perhaps Paul Volcker did not think that 10 years later, the popularity of ATM teller machines is slipping.




The number of Atms worldwide fell for the first time last year as Banks closed branches and shifted resources to digital payments, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

According to a study released in Monday by consulting firm RBR, the number of ATMS worldwide fell for the first time last year as banks closed branches and shifted resources to digital payments. In 2018, the number of ATMS fell by 1% in four of the world’s top five markets-China, the United States, Japan and Brazil. London-based RBR said the number of atms in India, the fifth-biggest market, had ” slowed dramatically” .

Bank customers are increasingly turning to mobile phones for regular financial services, shifting from cash to credit and debit cards.

JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s largest bank, cut its branches by 2% last year and allocated 10.8 billion of dollars for technology upgrades to mobile banking. The bank found a 5% increase in the number of active digital customers and a 11% increase in the number of active mobile customers.

While the number of ATMS worldwide has declined for the first time, cutting ATM is not a new phenomenon. Bank of America cut the number of ATMS in 2012, and JPMorgan began doing so in 2015. A fall in the number of ATMS could hurt manufacturers such as NCR and Diebold Nixdorf.

Between November 2017 and April 2018, nearly 1500 machines were shut down on the UK’s largest ATM transfer network Link Network, in part because of a significant increase in non-contact payments of small transactions, reducing the need for cash.



However, not every year will see the same decline as last year.

In developing countries, the number of ATMS is increasing, which helps slow the global decline in ATM numbers, according to RBR. The company expects the number of ATMS in global banks to fall by only 0.6% over the next six years.

“The financial inclusion program continues to drive an increase in ATM numbers in developing countries in Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America。” RBR said in a statement.

However, although the traditional ATM automatic cash deposit and withdrawal machine is declining，but at the same time, the Bitcoin ATM machine is growing.