Global ATM Installation Will Grow To 4 Million China And India Lead Way RBR Study

LONDON -- According to a new study by the London-based RBR, a consultancy firm, the number of ATMs worldwide rose 5% in 2015 to an estimated 3.2 million total units on location. The study, titled "Global ATM Market and Forecasts to 2021," projected that markets in China and India will continue to exhibit the fastest deployment rates over the next several years.

"China and India have seen enormous growth in ATM numbers over the last few years. RBR forecasts this will continue as authorities in these markets are determined to use ATM deployment to spread access to financial services as far and as wide as possible," said Rowan Berridge, who led the RBR study.

The report predicted that 4 million ATMs will be installed worldwide by 2021, with the Asia-Pacific market expanding by a staggering 46%. This impressive growth is estimated to account for well over half of the global total by 2021. The Middle East and Africa will see comparable percentage growth, although the numbers of ATMs involved are far smaller.

By contrast, growth in other regions will be significantly lower, about 7% or less. For instance, the total number of ATMs in North America, which will remain the second-largest region, will only be around a fifth of the Asia-Pacific total by 2021. To put this into perspective, as recently as the early 2000s, these two regions had the same number of machines.

With the exception of Central and Eastern Europe, all regions saw their ATM markets expand during 2015. In Central and Eastern Europe, however, the number of ATMs declined by an estimated 7,000, with Russia and Ukraine shedding terminals due to economic woes.

Although developing markets are seeing the greatest rate of ATM expansion, the RBR study found that in most established markets, including Western Europe and North America, the number of terminals and number of cash withdrawals are still increasing. This suggests that despite the challenges posed by emerging payment methods, like contactless cards and mobile payments, cash usage remains resilient.

RBR, originally Retail Banking Research, is a research and consulting firm with three decades of experience in banking, retail automation and payments. It provides independent advice and intelligence through published reports, consulting, newsletters and events.

GROWING:The number of ATMs deployed worldwide is expected to grow to some 4 million by 2021. While China and India are in the forefront of the expansion, installations are also expected to increase, albeit modestly, in North America and Western Europe.