The bank intensifies the closure of ATMs, although cash withdrawals increase

The ATM network has been cut by 7.5% since the pandemic broke out, with the closure of 3,777 terminals

July 3 () –

The ATM network has suffered a 7.5% cut since the coronavirus pandemic broke out in Spain, with the disappearance of a total of 3,777 terminals in two years, according to updated data from the Bank of Spain.

In March 2020, at the beginning of the health crisis, there were a total of 50,251 ATMs in Spain, of which 1,485 (2.96% of the total) disappeared in the following twelve months, coinciding with the push that the pandemic gave to the use of online banking channels and the beginning of job adjustment processes and offices of various financial entities.

The data consulted by Europa Press reveal that this reduction in the ATM network has increased a year later, to its smallest size since 2000, coinciding with new processes of consolidation and capacity adjustment.

Thus, at the end of the first quarter of 2022 there were 46,473 ATMs in Spain, 2,293 less than a year earlier (-4.7%) and 3,777 less than at the start of the pandemic (-7.5%).

For their part, cash withdrawal operations sank 31.25% in 2020, due to the effect of confinements and lower activity, while in 2021 they recovered 4.51%, with the lifting of the restrictions.

The latest data shows that the use of ATMs rose again in the first quarter of 2022, with 152.9 million operations between January and March, 7.34% more than in the same period a year earlier. The volume withdrawn also increased, to 111,131 million euros, 10.63% more than in the first quarter of 2021.

At the same time, card payments at point of sale (POS) terminals increased by around 28% in the first quarter of 2022, both in number of operations and in their volume.

Likewise, the number of POS terminals increased by 7.8% year-on-year in the first quarter, to a total of 2.25 million terminals, the maximum recorded to date.

As for cards in circulation, in the first quarter the number of credit cards increased by 5.42%, to 39.41 million, while the number of debit cards decreased by 0.53%, to 48.79 millions.