The number of terminals in Spain stands at 46,530, the lowest level in more than two decades
The bank restructuring process in Spain – with a constant stream of branch closures and increased use of cards at the expense of cash – has led to a sharp decline in the number of ATMs available, which has been accelerated by the pandemic.
According to the latest statistics from the Bank of Spain, national entities had 46,530 dispensers spread across the entire national geography at the end of the second quarter, 3,971 less than at the end of 2019, just before the outbreak of the health crisis.
The figure is also the lowest since the previous minimum in 2000, when the number of ATMs barely passed 44,800. And it also represents a sharp drop of nearly 25% from the maximum peak reached in 2008, when citizens gained access to 61,714 ATMs. In other words, a total of 15,184 ATMs have disappeared since the last financial crisis.
Despite this gradual closure of terminals, activity at the ATMs still available has increased, albeit very moderately, after the slump in 2020, when the number of operations fell by 31.25% and that of withdrawals by a further 18.36% .
Specifically, the actions to withdraw money from the ATM increased by 2.75% in the second quarter of 2022 compared to the same period of 2021. But the advance is less than the 7.34% recorded in the first quarter. . A total of 323,723 cash withdrawals were made between January and June, a figure that, despite recent improvement, is a long way from the pre-pandemic 908,590.
In terms of amount, the second quarter of the year also moderated, with growth of only 6.65% year-on-year (at 29,737 million euros), compared to the 10.63% increase in the first quarter.
The fact that paying with a bank card is an increasingly common practice has for years led the POS (Point of Sale Terminals) park to follow a trend that is opposite to that of the decline in ATMs. In concrete terms, there are already more than 2.3 million payment terminals in Spain, a figure that far exceeds the 1.9 million in 2019.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
