The banks have cut their network of ATMs 7.5% since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in Spain to leave it at its lowest level since 2000. This translates into the disappearance of 3.777 terminals in two years, according to updated data from the Bank of Spain. While there are fewer ATMs available, the operations of cash withdrawal they are on the rise, although they are still below pre-covid levels.
In March 2020, at the beginning of the health crisis, in Spain there was a total of 50,251 ATMsof which 1,485 (2.96% of the total) disappeared in 2021, coinciding with the push that the pandemic gave to the use of ‘online’ banking channels and the start of adjustment processes. employment and offices of various financial institutions.
The data consulted by Europa Press reveal that this reduction in the ATM network has been accentuated a year later, reaching its lowest level since 2000, coinciding with new processes of consolidation and capacity adjustment. Thus, at the end of the first quarter of 2022, there were 46,473 ATMs in Spain, 2,293 less than a year earlier (-4.7%) and 3,777 less than at the start of the pandemic (-7.5%).
For its part, cash withdrawal operations sank one 31.25% in 2020 due to the effect of confinement and decreased activity, while in 2021 they recovered 4.51% with the lifting of restrictions. The latest data show that the use of ATMs rose again in the first quarter of 2022 with 152.9 million transactions between January and March, 7.34% more than in the same period of 2021. It also increased the volume withdrawn, up to 111,131 million euros, 10.63% more than in the first quarter of 2021.
At the same time, card payments at point-of-sale terminals (VAT) increased by approximately 28% in the first quarter of 2022, both in the number of transactions and in the amount of the amount. Likewise, the number of POS increased by 7.8% year-on-year in the first quarter to a total of 2.25 million terminals, the highest recorded so far. About the cards in circulation, in the first quarter the number of credit cards increased by 5.42% to 39.41 million, while the number of debit cards fell by 0.53% to 48.79 million .