Branch Closures and Lack of Cash Withdrawals Lead to over 1000 ATMs Disappearing

BRANCH closures and a lack of cash withdrawals led to over 1000 ATMs disappearing in Spain during 2020.

Over recent years banks in Spain have seen the profitability of local branches and ATMs decrease. As the world advances with digitisation and mobile payments, traditional uses of banks and ATMs has been decreasing.

During 2020 the use of ATMs and cash withdrawals plummeted as the potentially deadly coronavirus pandemic swept across Spain. In 2020 the use of ATMs for cash withdrawals fell by over 30%.

The coronavirus and people’s changing habits due to confinement and various coronavirus restrictions saw the number of card payments boom, while the use of cash was looked on less favourably. According to statistics from the Bank of Spain over a thousand ATMs disappeared last year.

The pandemic saw an increasing usage in network point-of-sale (POS) terminals as people were encouraged to use card payments rather than cash and the Bank of Spain registered an increase in POS payments during 2020 of over 4%.

The decreasing number of ATMs though has meant that many residents in rural areas have found it very difficult to access cash, especially during tight coronavirus restrictions.

In a bid to fight financial exclusion in rural areas though it was recently announced that customers of eight small and medium banks will be able to use Euronet ATMs.

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