Page 48 - Banking Finance October 2022

ARTICLE

IS ATM

LOSING ITS

SHEEN?

e have witnessed the days of competition The same can be explained with the help of two indicators.
W when banks were trying to outdo the other The first is embedded in the number of ATMs per 100,000
by opening the maximum number of ATMs
adult population for India and the world. It can be easily
but the pace seems to have dried out now.
Are we increasingly becoming a cashless reflected that ATMs in India grew at a fast velocity up to
2014 but thereafter its tempo has slowed down with the
society? Will ATMs become extinct in the coming decade?
growth track being almost flattened out. On the contrary,
Are we heavily depending on our mobiles and laptops for
the growth all over the world is in ensuing an almost
banking?
contrasting pattern that remained quite buoyant and,
particularly, post 2017 the growth accelerated, broadening
Are we relying more on digital transactions and e wallets?
the gap between the two curves. If juxtaposed with the
Whatever the answer may be, one thing for sure stands
world average of 51.7 ATMs per one lakh population in the
apart is that growth of ATMs in India has started flattening.
year 2020, India is way below, at an average of 21.5 ATMs
Covid 19 pandemic on the other hand has dampened the
per one lakh population, that is much lower than China,
use of cash world over. India too, did not remain aloof from
which is at 87.9 ATMs per one lakh population and Brazil
this and encountered a paradigm shift from ATMs to other
too, which is at 96.6 ATMs per one lakh population.
digital payment modes since the year 2019.
The truth remains that India continues to be among the
About the author
countries with the lowest penetration of ATMs. Though India
has 650,000 villages, but there is approximately only one
Neha Gaur
ATM for 10 villages which remains a big hurdle for financial
Senior Manager (Faculty It & Digital Banking)
Union Bank of India inclusion. The other indicator can be seen in the way the
Staff Training Center, Powai
ATMs are being increasingly replaced by technological
48 | 2022 | OCTOBER | BANKING FINANCE