BROOKINGS, S.D. - The estimated number of ATMs in the world is set to surpass the 1.5 million mark just before Christmas this year, according to the ATM Industry Association.
Just less than 1.5 million ATMs are now placed globally - an estimated 1,498,487 - with a new ATM being installed about every 5-10 minutes, according to Retail Banking Research Ltd., a leading London-based research retail-banking-technology consultancy. RBR reportedly used ATM-shipping data and other sources to calculate the approximate installation base.
RBR also calculates that ATMs are increasing at a rate of 192.32 ATMs per day (equivalent to one ATM every 7.49 minutes, or every 449 seconds).
From 1967, when the very first ATM was installed in London, it took 33 years for the industry to reach the 1 million mark. To reach 1.5 million, it has taken the industry only six years.
"Thirty-three years to install 1 million ATMs, six years to install the next half-million ATMs - that sure puts the phenomenal growth of the ATM industry into perspective," said Lana Harmelink, ATMIA's international director of operations.
ATMIA has an online ATM clock for news provided by RBR. To watch ATM numbers in real-time, click on "Current Number of ATMs in the World" on any home page of an ATMIA chapter.
