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China tops US as world's largest ATM market

It's been forecast for years, and now it's official: China's installed ATM base is the largest on earth.

June 20, 2014

In 2013, China breezed past the U.S. to become the world's largest ATM market, according to “ATMs in China 2014,” a new report by the London-based strategic research and consulting firm RBR.

Despite an already large installed base, the pace of growth in the Chinese market accelerated in 2013; the number of ATMs increased by 25 percent to a total of 520,000 machines.

Customer demand remains a key driver of growth, RBR found. By the end of 2013, FIs had issued 4.2 billion payment cards, stimulating the need for more ATMs. To encourage card use, banks extended ATM hours to 24/7, added thousands of new 24-hour self‑service areas, and moved existing ATMs to more accessible locations.

source: RBR, 'ATMs in China 2014'

The number of cash-recycling ATMs increased in 2013, prompted by a desire among banks to drive customer traffic from the teller to the self-service channel, and aided by the falling cost of recyclers. In areas where banknote recycling is not yet allowed, banks are installing recycling ATMs with the function deactivated, but ready to go into service as soon as the practice is permitted.

Half of ATMs now have speech capability for the visually impaired. Many banks are using the feature to guide new ATM users through the transaction process. The number of ATMs equipped with the central bank’s PBOC 2.0 standard chip card readers is growing, as is the number of EMV-compliant terminals, and roughly 90 percent of all machines now have security cameras, according to the RBR report.

The volume of cash withdrawals grew by almost 20 percent in 2013, driven by growing numbers of cardholders. Cash remains the only payment tool for much of the rural population, although the total volume and value of card payments are on the rise. 

Despite significant growth in the market, China's ATM density of 385 units per million people remains below the global average, suggesting plenty of room for additional market growth. While some of the nation's larger cities exceed the ATM density of western countries, many provinces still boast fewer than 200 ATMs per million inhabitants.