Number of ATMs has remained stagnant in the last 18 months & Share of Public sector bank ATMs on the decline
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 20, 2019
There were multiple news reports recently
about the marginal increase in the number of ATMs in the quarter ending March
2019. But the data of the last 18 months tells a different story. Here are all
the details.
The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) annual report for 2017-18,  released in August 2018, points out to the marginal decrease in the number of ATMs across the country. This observation was made by RBI in view of the decreasing trend in the number of ATMs, which further continued until the end of 2018.
However, the previous quarter (Q3 – January toMarch of Fiscal Year 2018-19) has seen a reversal in this trend where the totalnumber of ATMs in the country have increased from 2,20,051 at the end of Dec’18to 2,21,703 by the end of March’19, anincrease of 1,652 ATMs. These numbers as per the Data Releases by RBI , reflect this trend.
After a steady reduction of number ATMs from 2,22,066 at the end ofMarch’18 to 2,20,051 by the end of Dec’18,  the total number ATMs have increased in previousquarter.
Continued fall in the Number of Public Sector Bank ATMs
While the total number of ATMs have marginally increased in the last quarter, the Public Sector Bank ATMs tell a different story. The number of ATMs of public sector banks across the country have witnessed a continuous decrease over the last 6 quarters.
The number of ATMs of Public Sector banks has reduced from 1,46,301 by the end of Dec’17 to 1,36,098 by the end of March’18. This is a decrease of 10,203 public sector bank ATMs or about 7%. In the previous quarter itself ( Jan’19 to Mar’19) , the number of public sector banks ATMs has come down by 4,145.
Public Sector Bank ATMs – Decrease uniform across regions
The dwindling number in public sector bank ATMs is a trend observedacross the regions – Metro, Rural, Urban and Semi-Urban Centres, as iscategorized in the data provided by RBI.
Public Sector Bank ATMs – What about states?
The decrease in the number of public sectorbanks is observed nearly all the states in the country. Most number of publicsector ATMs were closed down in Maharashtra (1476), followed by Uttar Pradesh (1009), Gujarat (862), Madhya Pradesh (799 ) and Telangana (641) between Dec’17 toMar’19.  The only three places where thenumber of Public sector bank ATMs increased during this period are Chandigarh(where the number of ATMs increased by 42), Mizoram & Lakshadweep.
Which Public sector bank closed down most
ATMs?
While State Bank of India, which is India’s largestpublic sector bank has seen only a marginal decrease in the number of ATMs overthe last 6 quarters, 404 to be precise, the other major public sector bankslike Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Canara Banketc. have closed down a large number of their ATMs.
Bank of India have closed down 1563 ATMs overthe previous 6 quarters with 1250 ATMs being shut down just during the 6-monthperiod of July-18-Dec’18.
Among the Public sector Banks, Syndicate Bankand Indian Bank are found to be the only exceptions. They have increased the numberof ATMs operated by them during this period.
High maintenance costs are cited as one of the main reasons for public sector banks opting to closing down their ATMs. This is also part of the larger consolidation which the banks are going through, in terms of optimizing their presence and to cut down on overhead costs.
The RBI
guidelines with regards to theupgrade of the ATMs, cash loading and Safety may also have contributed towardsthe increased maintenance costs.
This decline in the number of public sector ATMs has coincided with the rise in the number of Debit cards to 885 million, of which a major share is of Public sector banks. The bank accounts opened through Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) have also contributed to the increase in the debit cards issued. Data as per RBI reports also shows an increase in the number of transactions through ATMs and POS.
This is a 2-part series on the number of ATMs in the country. The second part  looks at Private bank & White label ATMs.