LONDON — According to Retail Banking Research, the Central and Eastern European ATM market grew by 26 percent during 2005, reaching a total of 68,500 installations. Of the ATMs installed, 57 percent were established at off-site locations, RBR said in a news release.
Russia and Bulgaria showed the largest amount of ATM growth, with Russia adding more than 7,500 machines and the Ukraine adding 2,500. The high growth rates follow a spike in the number of ATM cards issued in both countries as a result of their improved economic and political stability.
Romania was the only other CEE market that saw more than 1,000 new installations during 2005. Improved economic stability also played a role in the country's new installation base.
Latvia was the only country where the installed base decreased in 2005.
Overall, the region experienced a 20 percent increase in the amount of cash withdrawn, with nearly 2.4 billion cash withdrawals made at CEE ATMs in 2005. The four largest markets comprised 70 percent of all cash withdrawals. Russia's 635 million cash withdrawals represented 27 percent of the region's total.
Estonia experienced the heaviest ATM usage, with an average of more than 6,000 cash withdrawals per machine per month. A total of €175 billion (U.S. $225 billion) was withdrawn from ATMs in CEE during 2005, compared with €131 billion (U.S. $169 billion) in 2004.
Market share
NCR Corp. remains the region's largest ATM supplier. According to RBR, NCR supplies the CEE ATM market with 45 percent of its ATMs. Although that figure represents a 50 percent reduction from the market share the company held at the end of the last decade, NCR still holds at least a quarter of the installed base in all of the countries surveyed.
Wincor Nixdorf International is the second-largest manufacturer in CEE, with a 31 percent share, and is the only manufacturer in the region to increase its market share year-over-year. Wincor held only 12 percent of the market in 1999.
Diebold Inc. supplies 22 percent of the market, a decrease from 35 percent at the end of the last decade.
