The Number of ATMs Around the World Has Fallen for the First Time

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

By Hannah Levitt

In the wake of the economic crisis, Paul Volcker called automated teller machines the last financial innovation that improved society. A decade later, their popularity is slipping.

The number of ATMs around the world fell for the first time last year as banks closed branches and redirected resources toward digital payments, consulting firm RBR said in a study released Monday. Declines in four of the world’s five largest markets — China, the U.S., Japan and Brazil — drove the 1% drop in ATMs in 2018. In the fifth, India, “growth slowed considerably,” London-based RBR said.

Photo courtesy of Mirza Babic.

Source: Bloomberg (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Finance, Technology
Tags
digital payments