The number of ATMs in China has decreased by a quarter in the past five years due to the spread of electronic payments.
According to local media including China’s Inter-Korean Newspaper on Wednesday, the number of ATMs in China stood at 802,700 as of the end of 2024, down 26.87 percent from 1,907,700 in 2019. This means that about 300,000 ATMs have disappeared in five years.
This change seems to be closely related to the rapid growth of mobile simple payments. According to data from the People’s Bank of China, the number of electronic payments by banks in 2024 was 301.6 billion, an increase of 35% compared to 2019. The transaction amount also increased by about 30% over the past five years to 3,426 trillion yuan.
In China, QR code-based payment methods such as WeChat Pay and Alipay are becoming the main payment methods, outpacing the use of credit cards.
As a result, the profitability of listed companies, which have mainly focused on ATM manufacturing, has deteriorated, and large state-owned banks such as Industrial and Commercial Bank of Korea and Construction Bank are also reducing or abolishing ATM card-free deposit and withdrawal services. Concerns that non-card services using QR codes could be abused for crimes also appear to have played a role.
However, some users, such as the elderly, remote residents, and foreign tourists, are still inevitable to use cash. Accordingly, the Chinese government is inducing the direction of using various payment methods at the same time rather than the complete withdrawal of ATMs.
Experts predict that ATM will evolve into a multi-functional platform that provides financial and life services beyond simple cash machines in the future.
EJ SONG
US ASIA JOURNAL
