News

February ATM withdrawals unexpectedly low in SA

March 12, 2013

After a sharp drop in January, ATM withdrawal activity in South Africa did not bounce back as expected during February, according to the Spark Cash Index, which measures the average value of cash withdrawals across more than 2,000 ATMs in the country.

The SCI recorded a marginal month-on-month increase of 0.69 percent in average cash withdrawal figures for February. This follows a month-on-month drop of 9.18 percent in January, compared with December.

Russel Berman, sales director of Spark ATM Systems, said this is an indication that consumers are still under financial pressure following a holiday season splurge. "While it is encouraging to note a positive increase following the drastic drop in January 2013, we were hoping for a bigger bounce-back, especially if we assume that the economy is in the first stage of an up-cycle."

Berman said a larger month-on-month increase should be expected for March 2013 ahead of the Easter holiday school break, when many consumers spend more on entertainment and travel.

While the SCI showed year-over-year growth of 7.71 percent for February 2013, this is not necessarily a sign that consumers are in a better financial position this year given the low figure for February, said Ronel Oberholzer, principal economist at IHS Global Insights.

Read more about trends and statistics.