The business model for independent operators of automatic teller machines in looking shaky, with demand continuing to fall away.In response, ATM owners are cutting back the number of machines deployed.Reserve Bank of Australia data shows there were fewer than 26 million transactions at ATMs owned by an operator other than the customer's bank in September 2013. This is the fourth month this year the number has been below 26 million.Ahead of the switch to the convenience fee regime for ATMs, which came in early in 2009, monthly transaction numbers ranged from 32 million to 35 million. They fell to around 28 million after the reforms, which saw customers made aware of fees of $2 or more each time they checked their balance or withdrew cash.More than four years later, consumers are training themselves to minimise their use of the "wrong" ATM, either by using their own bank's ATM, at no direct cost, or by taking cash out in combination with a purchase made with their debit card.Mike Ebstein, of MWE Consulting, said in his monthly analysis of RBA payments data that over the last five years transactions per point of sale device per month had increased, from 216 to 355. Also, over the last five years, transactions per ATM per month have declined, from 2748 to 2175.There is "an ongoing increase in the share of value and volume of cash being distributed at point of sale," Ebstein said.  The RBA produced a revised estimate of the number of ATM devices deployed. There are now 30,157, almost five thousand fewer than before.However, the ATM fleet remains more than three times the size it was more than a decade ago.