Global ATM numbers fell for the eighth consecutive year in 2025, with the installed base contracting by 2% worldwide to stand at 2.9 million units at the end of the year. However, as evidenced in Datos Insights’ new Global ATM Intelligence Service 2026 report, trends at regional and country level are far from uniform, with cash access legislation and financial inclusion policies among the factors driving growth at local level.
It is no coincidence that the most significant decreases in ATM numbers are observed in markets with a high degree of digital payment penetration, with the Asia-Pacific installed base falling at the fastest rate. Though markets such as India and Thailand contributed to this fall due to rapid uptake of the UPI and PromptPay payment platforms, respectively, the regional trend is really shaped by China, which is the region’s largest market by far.
In 2025, Chinese banks removed 9% of their ATMs, causing the overall size of the market to fall behind the U.S. – now the world’s largest ATM market – for the first time since 2012. However, even in the U.S., ATM deployers removed fully 6,000 ATMs, or 1% of the total. The process was led by independent ATM deployers (IADs) Allpoint, Moneypass, and NationalLink, which are all attempting to optimize their hardware fleets in the face of rising CIT and maintenance costs. Historically, banks in the U.S. have removed more ATMs than have IADs, but in 2025 several FIs, such as Wells Fargo, actually increased the size of their ATM estates.
Similarly to the U.S., mature Western European markets with high ATM densities relative to population saw deployers reducing their physical footprint in 2025. In the U.K. and France, where digital banking services are now ubiquitous, ATM cuts were driven in large measure by bank closures.
Legislation Causes ATM Numbers to Rise in Underserved Markets
Although the number of ATMs in Latin America and the Caribbean fell in 2025, the headline figure is skewed by the largest market, Brazil, which lost nearly 10% of its ATMs during the year. Outside Brazil, the region saw moderate growth in ATM numbers, with the Mexican government encouraging increased deployment in rural areas. Several smaller Central American markets, such as Honduras and El Salvador, are also addressing historical shortfalls in ATM provision.
There were only two global regions that saw overall growth in 2025. One was Central and Eastern Europe; in this region, Hungarian deployers installed new machines to comply with Act XVIII, which mandates cash withdrawal access in every municipality in the country. In Uzbekistan, banking sector privatization and financial inclusion initiatives led to double-digit percentage growth in ATM numbers, a trend that is forecast to continue on a similar trajectory through 2028.
The Middle East and Africa is the region with the most varied national trends in ATM growth, with Gulf nations typically engaged in digital transformation, while cash-heavy African markets with underbanked populations continue to add terminals. A key example is Egypt, where the government’s Decent Life initiative has made big strides in broadening financial inclusion to rural areas, contributing to an increase of nearly 2,500 ATMs in 2025.
Rising Costs for Banks Are Shaping Deployer Landscapes Worldwide
While most of the world’s ATMs belong to banks, different deployment models are on the rise as maintenance costs rise, with the proportion of ATMs deployed by IADs rising once again in 2025.
At the end of the year, they accounted for 19% of ATMs worldwide, with Asia-Pacific showing growth in IAD ATM numbers even as the overall total declined. This was largely driven by India’s India1Payments and Hitachi Payment Services, though markets with a burgeoning tourism sector such as Malaysia and the Philippines also saw IAD growth.
While IADs typically own and operate their own ATMs, banks are increasingly looking to IADs and ATM manufacturers to aid in the management of their self-service estates. For example, Euronet operates white-label ATMs in the Philippines, allowing customers of its partner banks to use them as normal, while it takes on ownership and management responsibilities. In Europe, it is more common for banks to opt for ATM-as-a-Service (ATMaaS) partnerships with ATM vendors or payments providers.
In many countries, post offices play a crucial role in delivering banking services, often via self-service machines including ATMs, and these companies can mitigate the removal of bank installations. Algérie Poste added 600 new machines to its estate in 2025, and BancoPosta in Italy also expanded.
Consumers Withdraw Larger Sums Per Transaction
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the shrinking installed base, the number of ATM cash withdrawals worldwide fell in 2025, to just under 65 billion. While this is in part due to the reduction in ATM provision, it is also among the factors influencing deployers’ decisions to downsize their fleets, as the average usage per ATM also continues to fall.
This is reflected in the fact that in most countries where the installed base has contracted sharply, so has ATM usage. This trend has been most pronounced in formerly cash-heavy markets that have seen rapid uptake of digital payment methods, such as Brazil, which saw ATM usage fall by 14% as many consumers adopted digital platform Pix for everyday payments.
Although global withdrawal numbers fell, the average value of a withdrawal increased, from US$196 to US$201. While inflation played a part in this trend, the fall in ATM numbers means that when consumers do visit an ATM, it is increasingly for a specific reason or for budgeting purposes, rather than for low-value, opportunistic withdrawals to fund routine purchases. In some markets, such as the U.S., customers withdraw larger amounts to minimize the impact of surcharges, which are levied per withdrawal.
Deployers Prioritize Increased Functionality Over Raw Numbers
Though global ATM usage declined in 2025, cash deposits accounted for a growing share of transactions, with deployers investing in this functionality despite falling overall demand for self-service banking. By the end of 2025, global automated deposit penetration reached 48%, with the technology most common in Europe. Russia has the highest proportion of deposit enabled ATMs, its banks having invested heavily in new terminals as contracts changed hands following the imposition of Western sanctions in 2022.
This is also reflected in the prevalence of contactless functionality at ATMs in Europe, with new models typically featuring an NFC reader. Globally, just over a quarter of ATMs allow NFC cash withdrawals, while over two-thirds of ATMs allow cardless cash withdrawals regardless of interface. The most common forms of initiation are one-time passcode (OTP) and scanning a QR code; these are favored in some regions because they do not require investment in new hardware.
Decline in Global ATM Installed Base Set to Stabilize
Although ATM numbers worldwide are set to continue falling through 2028, the decline will be mitigated by several factors. Governments and central banks are increasingly stepping in to mandate a minimum level of ATM provision, particularly in markets where ATMs act as banking touchpoints amid large-scale branch closures.
While this is evident in mature markets such as Belgium and the Netherlands, where ATM pooling projects Batopin and Geldmaat are required to meet geographic ATM targets, it can also be seen in financial inclusion projects in countries that are underserved in terms of banking. For example, in Nigeria, the central bank mandates that at least one ATM be installed for every 5,000 active payment cards in circulation by the end of 2028.
Despite growth in several regions, the global ATM installed base is projected to contract at a CAGR of 1% to 2028. Rationalization projects in the world’s two largest markets, the U.S. and China, are the main driver of this change.
For more analysis on global ATM market trends, visit the Datos Insights Global ATM Intelligence Service at www.datos-insights.com/global-atm
This article was featured in the September 2026 issue of Banking & Payments Bulletin. Learn more and subscribe here.
