Number of cash machines in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2019, by operator

The rise of digital and contactless payments in the United Kingdom and Europe has seen the need for physical cash machines fall in recent years. Between June and December of 2019, almost 1.7 thousand ATM’s closed in the UK. High street banking giants such as Natwest and Barclays closed approximately 400 each between December 2017 and December 2019. This decline is likely in response to the increase of cashless payments and the drop in withdrawals.

Rise in cashless payments reflects drop in ATMs

The UK has the highest number of cashless transactions of any EU member state. According to a 2018 payment methods report, cash is used in less than ten percent of transactions in the UK. The number of purchases using cash in the UK has been estimated to almost half by 2026.

UK reflects a European trend

In Europe the number of automated teller machines per one hundred thousand adults fell to approximately 68 in 2018. The need for physical cash as a method of payment has become less important with the rise of point of sale (POS) terminals allowing for both card and contactless transactions. In terms of Europe’s largest countries, only Germany still uses cash as it’s leading payment method.