ATM numbers dip in FY25 as digital payments rise: RBI

The number of automated teller machines (ATMs) declined moderately in FY25, with the increase in digitisation, a RBI report said on Monday.

The number of bank branches increased by over 2% on the back of network expansion by the public sector banks, the report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India for FY25 said.

The overall number of ATMs declined to 2,51,057 as of March 31, 2025, from 2,53,417 in the year-ago period, driven down further by private-sector banks' strategies, it indicated.

Private sector banks' ATM network declined to 77,117 from 79,884 in the last year, while the public sector banks also had a decline to 1,33,544 from 1,34,694 in the year-ago period, it said, adding that the decline was due to both groups shutting down offsite ATMs.

"Increase in digitalisation of payments has reduced the customers' requirement of transacting with ATMs," the report said.

The independently-run white label ATMs increased to 36,216 from 34,602 in the year-ago period.

Public sector banks' ATM distribution was evenly distributed between rural, semi-urban, urban and metropolitan areas, while the private sector banks and foreign banks had a concentration in the urban and metropolitan areas in their ATM networks.

However, banks continue to open new branches despite the ingress of alternative channels powered by digital technologies, the report said.

As of March 31, there were 1.64 lakh branches in the country, which was up by 2.8 per cent, the report said.

PSBs were more aggressive on new branch openings in FY25, and the share of private banks in the new branch openings declined to 51.8% in the fiscal year from 67.3% in the year-ago period.

The RBI noted that more than two-thirds of the new branches opened by PSBs were in rural and semi-urban centres, while the share was just 37.5% for private banks.

The number of basic savings bank deposit accounts increased by 2.6₹ to 72.4 crore, while the aggregate balance in the accounts was up by 9.5% to ₹3.3 lakh crore.

A majority of BSBDAs continue to be channelised through the business correspondent model, indicating their effectiveness at the grassroots level, it said.

From a deposit insurance perspective, where the policymakers are mulling to increase the cap of ₹5 lakh balance per account for coverage, the number of accounts covered stood at 97.6% as of end-FY25.

However, when measured by insured deposits, the coverage ratio decreased to 41.5% at end-March 2025 from 43.1% a year ago, the report said.