News

U.S. ATM volumes are flat, according to new EFT Data Book

October 25, 2004

CHICAGO - Overall ATM volume grew by 1.9 percent in 2004, slightly less than in 2003, according to the 2005 edition of the ATM&Debit News EFT Data Book. ATM volumes per machine also were flat, falling from 2,432 in March of 2003 to 2,400 in March of 2004.

Among the companies that experienced the largest growth in ATM volumes, according to the annual publication, were KeyBank, Washington Mutual, SunTrust and Fleet Boston.

The number of ATMs deployed in the U.S. grew 3.2 percent, to 383,000 in 2004 from 371,000 in 2003.

PIN-based purchases grew 25.3 percent in 2004, with the 12 EFT networks that support point-of-sale debit programs switching 522.8 million purchases in March. However, the number of debit card purchases was smaller than anticipated, as some of the largest EFT networks restated their March 2003 volumes.

The restatements, which lowered March 2003 figures by approximately 78 million purchases, were brought about primarily by a change in the Star network's data reporting. Prior to First Data Corp.'s acquisition of Star, the nation's largest EFT network, Star reported both the preauthorization and the final purchase as two transactions.

In addition to trend data, the 2005 EFT Data Book contains listings of EFT networks, POS debit networks and national networks, as well as rankings of the top 50 U.S. ATM owners, the top 50 issuers of PIN-based debit cards, the top 50 issuers of signature-based debit cards, and the top 12 PIN-based debit acquirers/processors.

The EFT Data Book also contains a comparison of in-network transactions and gateway volumes among the EFT and POS networks. The ATM owner listings include customer, or on-us, transaction activity, as well as total transactions initiated at each deployer's machines.

ATM&Debit News subscribers receive the 2005 EFT Data Book at no additional charge, or it may be purchased at http://www.cardforum.com/staticpage.html?pagename=eftinfo.