 

Amount in 2 Billion 45.3 47.7 25.4

Average Amount Per Transaction in 2 4,639.1) 4,758.6] 4,976.1)
Source: India ATM Market Outlook to 2026, Ken Research, August 2021.

*RBI has stopped reporting non-financial transactions at ATMs since October 2019.

Note: RBI has made changes in their reporting of transactions at ATMs. In a circular dated August 14, 2019, RBI announced the following
points: (1) Transactions which fail on account of technical reasons such hardware, software, communication issues, non-availability of
currency notes in the ATM and other declines ascribable directly/wholly to the bank/service provider and invalid PIN/validations; etc. shall
not be counted as valid ATM transactions for the customer. Consequently, no charges therefor shall be levied. (2) Non-cash withdrawal
transactions (such as balance enquiry, check book request, payment of taxes, funds transfer, etc.), which constitute ‘on-us’ transactions (i.e.
when a card is used at an ATM of the bank which has issued the card) shall also not be part of the number of free ATM transactions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Impact of Demonetization and COVID-19 on the Number of ATM Transactions and Its Revival

Due to the demonetization in November 2016, the number of ATM transactions declined from 802.7 million
during October 2016 to 561.8 million in November 2016. The post-demonetization period was marked by the
recovery of cash in circulation and a robust banking system led by digital transactions. Post-demonetization, the
number of transactions at ATMs rose to 915.2 million during December 2018 as cash in circulation increased in
the country. Similarly, during the COVID-19 lockdown imposed in the country, the number of ATM
transactions declined during April 2020, reaching the lowest at 294.9 million (financial) transactions, although
currency in circulation increased to %28,573.3 billion, which was 14.5% of the GDP for financial year 2021,
primarily because households started holding more cash in hand. The number of transactions in March 2021
grew by 104.2% from April 2020, restoring the number of transactions to pre-COVID-19 levels. During the
COVID-19 period, the amount of cash withdrawals increased, while the frequency of visiting an ATM
decreased, which led to a fall in transactions. It has been witnessed that cash has been the most resilient mode of
payment in the country and will continue to be the most preferred payment instrument in the coming years.

The following chart sets forth a trend in the number of ATM transactions from July 2013 to March 2021:

..Rast. Demonetizatian.....

 

1000 4¢-.2te.Remonetization..

 
 
  

Demonetization
802.7 (Oct-16)

 
       
    
  
 
 

got oo \\ Non-financial transactions
00> \g excluded by RBI
4008 625.2 q $02.2

  
 

and restoration

   
  

-30% Dip due to
demonetization
of 500 and 1000

of Number of

     

’ Transactions to Pre-

1294.9

200 ! covip-19
100 § Impact of Covid-19
of

 

——+# of Transactions (MN)

Source: India ATM Market Outlook to 2026, Ken Research, August 2021.
*RBI has stopped reporting non-financial transactions at ATMs since October 2019.

Note: RBI has made changes in their reporting of transactions at ATMs. In a circular dated August 14, 2019, RBI announced the following
points: (1) transactions which fail on account of technical reasons such as hardware, software, communication issues; non-availability of
currency notes in the ATM and other declines ascribable directly/wholly to the bank/service provider and invalid PIN/validations. shall not
be counted as valid ATM transactions for the customer. Consequently, no charges therefor shall be levied; (2) non-cash withdrawal
transactions (such as balance enquiry, check book request, payment of taxes, funds transfer, etc.), which constitute ‘on-us’ transactions (i.e,
when a card is used at an ATM of the bank which has issued the card) shall also not be part of the number of free ATM transactions.

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