ATMs that have been shut down or lacked cash. It has been an ongoing saga in recent months that has upset many. The association Kontantupproret has even chosen to report the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, which is responsible for supervising the machines.
Now, however, the company Bankomat sees a bright spot and promises that the problems may be on their way to being solved.
We will be back to a general availability where 98-99 percent of our ATMs are available, estimates Johan Nilsson.
Since it will always be the case that an ATM can break down or "stand still" in a location for two to three days due to technical failure.
Took over management
The background to the extensive problems is that the company has chosen to take over the operation itself from previously hiring the cash handling company Loomis. Initial resource shortages have meant that during certain periods, around 100 of the company's approximately 1,200 ATMs were out of use and in some cases in smaller locations with one or a single ATM.
Half-year statistics show at the same time that cash withdrawals continue to decrease, on average each Swede withdrew 341 kronor per month, a decrease of 14 percent compared to 2024.
Fewer and fewer ATMs
Johan Nilsson estimates that the mess with closed ATMs has partially affected this. At the same time, the average annual decline has been around 10 percent over the past ten years. They are also continuously reducing the number of ATMs, by just over 20 in the last half year.
How much more can you reduce and still meet current legal requirements for ATM coverage?
We expect that somewhere between 900 and 1,000 ATMs is a minimum level to meet both legal requirements and demand.
