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More than 1 million ATMs for over a billion people?

Last year, 50,000 ATMs were added to China's installed base.

March 22, 2011 by Mike Lee — CEO of the ATM Industry Association, ATM Industry Association

On my way to host our 6th annual Asian conference, "China ATMs 2011," in
Beijing earlier this month, the plane flew over the magnificent snow-capped
Himalayas in blazing daylight. Looking down on this magnificent spectacle of
the  greatest mountain ranges on earth, I realized once again that when we
travel to Asia we need to readjust our sense of scale.

For everything in Asia is on a large scale, not just mountains.
This is especially true in China, which recently became the
world's second-largest economy behind the USA and ahead of Japan.
It is home to over 1.3 billion people, almost one fifth the size
of the human race.

This ATM conference, co-hosted with Retail Banking Research (RBR),
which I believe produces the world's best ATM data, was our biggest
ever Asian event with almost 200 delegates and a sell-out exhibition hall,
necessitating the search for a much larger venue for China ATMs 2013.

The banking regulator of the People's Bank of China gave a great keynote address, describing China as a "cash-preferring society" and generously inviting proposals and comments from the industry for governing the nation's 271,000 ATMs.

The central bank also called for greater growth in off-premise ATMs
and greater diversity in ATM investment in China. The China Banking Association
stated that if ATMs were removed from China its people would feel their quality
of life had been drastically damaged.

The growth in the Chinese ATM industry is gathering pace. Last year, 50,000
ATMs were added to the installed base. It was readily accepted by many
speakers and delegates that China can ultimately accommodate 1 million ATMs.
By 2020, for example, there will be about 900 million inhabitants in Chinese
cities alone.

According to RBR's "Global ATM Market and Forecasts to 2015", the top three
ATM deployers worldwide at the end of 2009 were all Chinese banks:
Agricultural Bank of China (40,000 ATMs), Industrial and Commercial Bank of
China (37,500 ATMs) and the China Construction Bank (36,000 ATMs).

It took the world 33 years to install the first million ATMs. It took 10
years for the next million and it will probably take 5 years to reach 3 million. The idea that one country on its own could end up with 1 million ATMs is mind-boggling in scale. Makes me think of the Himalayas and that unforgettable sight I saw on the plane going to China.

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