Steady fall in ATM usage continues

Consumers' use of ATMs fell in the year to June, continuing a trend that has been in progress for the past five years.

According to Reserve Bank data released yesterday, consumers made 60.3 million cash withdrawals from ATMs each month, on average, during the 2014/15 financial year.

That is a 4.9 per cent fall, compared with the 2013/14 financial year, when consumers made 63.4 million withdrawals a month on average.

Over the past five years the number of cash withdrawals has fallen by between four and five per cent a year. Back in 2010/11 the average number of withdrawals was close to 70 million a month.

The value of ATM withdrawals was an average of $11.8 billion a month in the year to June, compared with $12 billion a month in 2013/14 - a fall of 1.7 per cent.

The value of ATM withdrawals has fallen by between 1.5 and 2.5 per cent over the past few years.

While the figures support recent commentary that card payments are taking over from cash, they do not support the view that contactless payments are accelerating the process. The decline appears to be slow and steady.