Asia-Pacific saw the highest increase in automated teller machine (ATM) cash withdrawals from 47.1% in 2014 to 54.5% in 2015, said strategic research and consulting firm, RBR.<\/p>\n
Worldwide, cash withdrawals had also increased by 10% in 2015, with 99 billion cash withdrawals made, RBR said in a statement. That is the fastest rate since 2011.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithdrawals rose in all regions with the most notable increases seen in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and Africa (MEA), where volumes were up by 16% and 8%, respectively,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
Due to rising financial inclusion and concerted efforts by banks in China to adopt more self-service transactions, ATM usage had rose to 23% in China.<\/p>\n
\u201cChina accounted for a staggering 24 billion withdrawals, almost a quarter of the global total,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
Similar trend was also observed in other developing markets in Asia-Pacific and MEA countries, namely Egypt, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
ATM usage did not just rise in developing markets, but also in mature markets.<\/p>\n
Even with an increase in surcharges in the USA, transaction levels actually increased though the volumes have declined over a number of years.<\/p>\n
In Spain, growth in the number of withdrawals picked up to 8% as the country\u2019s economy started to recover, RBR said.<\/p>\n