The number of ATMs (ATMs) continues to decline in France, with a 3.4% drop in 2022 in mainland France, to 46,249 ATMs, according to a report published Monday by the Banque de France.
Compared to 2021, the decline has therefore accelerated somewhat since it had been recorded at 2% at that time. Since 2018, the number of distributors in mainland France has fallen by more than 12%.
The reduction in the number of ATMs is concentrated in the most populated and best-equipped towns, reflecting an optimization of facilities with a view to guaranteeing, in particular, a better territorial network, however defended the central bank, specifying that this reduction is not likely to alter the accessibility indicators.
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79.2% of the population less than 5 minutes from an ATM
Last year, the number of municipalities equipped with at least one ATM thus increased by 15 (+0.2%), according to the report.
In addition, 79.2% of the population is less than five minutes by car from the nearest ATM, and 98.9% less than 15 minutes, stable rates compared to 2021.
The evolution of the ATM network naturally follows that of society, and accessibility to cash remains, as was the case in previous years, at an excellent level, for her part congratulated Maya Atig, director general of the French Banking Federation (FBF), quoted in a press release.
The drop in the number of ATMs is compensated
The decline in the number of ATMs is compensated by the continuous development, for several years, of private access points to cash, namely distribution points in shops, further specified the FBF.
According to the Banque de France, the metropolis thus had 26,956 private access points at the end of 2022, an increase of 3.9%.
But the service is far from the same. In the CA relays of Crédit Agricole, for example, the withdrawal cannot exceed 100 euros, explains the bank’s website.
Transactions are only accessible to customers of the network to which they belong and can only be carried out during the opening hours of the merchant in question, and not 24 hours a day like a traditional ATM.
ATMs and distribution points in shops combined, the number of accesses to cash fell by 0.8% in 2022, to 73,205.
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