Strong growth in debit account numbers and transaction volumes may be putting a cap on the growth of the ATM market, according to MWE Consulting principal Mike Ebstein.Speaking at yesterday's ATM Industry Association conference Ebstein said payment data showed that the value of cash withdrawals at ATMs fell from $452 billion to $450 billion over the 12 months to June. Cash withdrawals at eftpos terminals rose from $12 to $15 billion over the same period.Ebstein said: "There is a shift. There was a consistent long-term pattern of growth in ATM withdrawals and now it has changed."Ebstein said this presented the ATM industry with some challenges. The growth in ATM numbers since the introduction of direct charging in March last year has exceeded growth in usage. Since 2006 the fall in the value of transactions per ATM has been around 10 per cent. Ebstein said: "We have seen very strong growth in debit account numbers. Maybe new technology, such as contactless payments, is moving consumers towards cards."Industry participants at the conference rejected the suggestion that the market had peaked. Some said they had plans for bigger ATM networks but all conceded that they needed to do more with their machines. ANZ head of ATM banking Danielle Curry said the bank's research showed that customers were looking for ATMs to provide more services. Curry said: "We have a strong ATM asset base but we are not leveraging it. We are lagging in the provision of ATM functionality. "We are not going to grow it in volume; we have to do more to add value. We want customers to use our ATMs more."National Australia Bank general manager ATMs and self service, Tim Andrew, said: "NAB is about where it is going to get in terms of the size of the network. We have to look at what else we are going to do. We have to sweat the value out."Customers chief operating officer Clint Walker said direct charging had given independent operators the revenue base to invest in their product. Another positive development was that infrastructure costs had come down.Walker said: "We have gone from many years of borderline performance to being a profitable organisation. Because there is some cash coming through we are able to invest in innovation."None of the participants gave details on exactly what added functionality they intended to offer.