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Cashless Countries Europe Edition

Cashless Countries Europe Edition

Written by Salman Haqqi, Personal Finance Editor

28 April 2022

Following the contact-free payment increase during the coronavirus pandemic, plus the recent announcement that old-school £20 and £50 notes will be obsolete by September 30th 2022, bank notes and coins are continuing to be phased out. But what does this mean for ATM usage?

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Using International Monetary Fund and United Nations data, money.co.uk can reveal the countries with the highest and lowest ATM depletion across Europe, as well as the countries with the highest number of ATMs per 100,000 people.

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European Countries With Lowest ATM Depletion

Russia

Russia’s already high number of ATMs has continued to rise, increasing by 67% from 2010 - 2020.

Austria

Austria’s cash usage shows no signs of slowing, with their ATM numbers increasing 59% from 2010-2020.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

In third place, Bosnia and Herzegovina have increased their ATM offering by 48% since 2010.

What are the advantages of ATMs?

24-hour service: The ATM provides service round the clock, meaning people can visit an ATM any time day or night.
Convenience: The ATM gives convenience to bank customers since they are often located in places such as airports and train stations, meaning customers don’t always have to be near a bank to obtain their cash.
Reduced workload: ATMs reduce the pressure and workload of bank tellers, which in turn reduces queues at bank premises.

What are the disadvantages of ATMs?

Security: Unlike bank tellers, ATMs do not require the person performing the transaction to present a picture identification, they simply need the card and a pin number. This means if a bank card is stolen and the pin number somehow obtained, the criminal can get access to funds. Check out our guide on how to keep your bank details safe here.
Basic transactions: ATMs cannot perform complex transactions e.g moving money between accounts or sending money abroad, making them obsolete to some people.
Privacy: Unlike banks where premises are monitored by security guards, ATMs leave the user open to privacy leaks e.g someone behind them attempting to steal their pin number, or even cameras being placed above the ATM for the same purpose. For this reason, always shield the pin pad on an ATM with your hand while entering your pin number. Find out the four ATM scams you need to look out for here.
Fees: When using an ATM that isn't part of your bank's network of machines, the machine sometimes notifies you about a fee charged by the bank or company that operates the ATM. You can avoid this by only using ATMs that are part of your bank’s network, but this takes away the convenience factor. ATMs also often charge fees when you are using a credit card rather than a debit card - find out more here.
Difficulty of use: For those who are unfamiliar with technology, using an ATM might cause some issues. An ATM is incapable of providing personalised instruction to the user in a way that a human teller can.
Eating a card: On occasion, an ATM may malfunction and swallow the user's card. This will result in them having to contact their bank to retrieve it, and they may be left without a card for a period of time.

Which country has the most ATMs in Europe?

Ranked: European Countries With The Most To Least ATMs Per Capita

Using UN population data for each European country along with IMF data stating the amount of ATMs per country in 2020, our personal finance experts worked out how many ATMs there were per capita, and per 100,000 people.

Country	Population	Number of ATMs 2020	Number of ATMs per capita	Number of ATMs per 100,000 people
Austria	8901064	12818	0.0014401	144
Portugal	10295909	14809	0.0014383	143.8
Russia	143507000	194034	0.0013521	135.2
Croatia	4058165	4896	0.0012065	120.6
San Marino	34805	41	0.001178	117.8
Luxembourg	628928	572	0.0009095	90.9
Spain	47332614	41912	0.0008855	88.5
Ukraine	41732779	34756	0.0008328	83.3
United Kingdom	67081234	54574	0.0008136	81.4
Switzerland	8696088	6901	0.0007936	79.4
Italy	59641488	46797	0.0007846	78.5
Bulgaria	6951482	5400	0.0007768	77.7
Montenegro	621873	416	0.0006689	66.9
Slovenia	2108977	1406	0.0006667	66.7
Poland	37929735	21829	0.0005755	57.6
Greece	10718565	5910	0.0005514	55.1
Estonia	1330068	718	0.0005398	54
Slovakia	5457873	2910	0.0005332	53.3
Romania	19201662	10231	0.0005328	53.3
Hungary	9769526	5004	0.0005122	51.2
Iceland	364134	176	0.0004833	48.3
North Macedonia	2076255	1001	0.0004821	48.2
Latvia	1893223	912	0.0004817	48.2
Ireland	4964440	2369	0.0004772	47.7
Bosnia and Herzegovina	3492018	1627	0.0004659	46.6
Belarus	9380000	4345	0.0004632	46.3
Serbia	6926705	3042	0.0004392	43.9
Moldova	2597100	1120	0.0004313	43.1
Malta	514564	201	0.0003906	39.1
Denmark	5825337	2078	0.0003567	35.7
Lithuania	2784000	894	0.0003211	32.1
Finland	5525292	1737	0.0003144	31.4
Netherlands	17474693	5297	0.0003031	30.3
Norway	5367580	1439	0.0002681	26.8
Albania	2845955	738	0.0002593	25.9
Sweden	10380000	2414	0.0002326	23.3

* Data not available for Monaco, France, Belgium, Czech Republic (Czechia) and Germany.

FAQ's

ATM fees are hugely varied across Europe; In the UK paying to use an ATM isn’t commonplace, especially if you’re using an ATM in your home bank network, yet in Germany ATMs charging around $4 is relatively usual.

The fees you will pay at a European ATM are dependent both your home bank’s fees, and the ATMs own fees.

Most banks list their charges for ATM use in their Terms & Conditions, or on their website.

Many UK banks don’t charge a fee at all, while some others offer a limited number of withdrawals for free, and others charge a flat fee with every withdrawal. Make sure to watch out for ATM fees when travelling abroad, as they often charge international bank fees.

If you are using an independent ATM which doesn’t belong to a bank e.g the ones you see in supermarkets or newsagents, these will often charge flat fees. To avoid this, always try to use ATMs belonging to banks or building societies.

Many bank accounts offer a number of free withdrawals every month, so be sure to find a bank account that includes this if you’re someone that does alot of withdrawals.
Stick to bank-owned ATMs: “Independent” ATMs that you see in small convenience stores or newsagents are more likely to charge you fees for using their service.
Plan ahead: If you know you will be needing a lot of cash, then it makes sense to be tactical and withdraw large amounts of money at once, especially if your bank charges for every withdrawal, or if you’re using an independent ATM. Make sure you store the excess cash safely at home to avoid carrying around a lot of cash at once.
Pay by debit card or Apple Pay/Google Pay where you can: The more you make contactless payments with your debit card or phone (which are more commonplace than ever after the Covid-19 pandemic) the less you will need to withdraw cash.

The worldwide pandemic saw many countries encouraging the use of contactless payments rather than cash, which saw ATM depletion in some countries across Europe. This doesn’t necessarily mean ATMs will become redundant, but they may not remain as we know them.

Experts have predicted ATMs will evolve, just as our smartphones have, to have built in finger-print or facial recognition, and they may give us access to financial advice. Furthermore, they could take on more of a traditional bank teller's job, potentially allowing us to open new accounts, transfer money between existing accounts or make secure payments

Methodology and Sources

Personal finance experts at money.co.uk looked at the number of ATMs in each European country in 2010 and again in 2020 (source:IMF Financial Access Survey) to reveal the percentage increase/decrease. They then ranked the countries in order of most depleted ATMs to least depleted ATM's.

To work out the number of ATMs per 100,000 people, for each country, they divided the number of ATMs in 2020 by the country's population in 2020 and multiplied by 100,000.

Sources

Population data: UN Demographic Statistics Database

ATM data: IMF Financial Access Survey

Salman Haqqi, Personal Finance Editor

About Salman Haqqi

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