Born from bank cards, died from mobile payments, does ATM still have a future after the acceleration of bank digitization?

Once upon a time, ATMs filled the streets and alleys and became a beautiful sight in the financial field. The banking industry relied on the market share of ATM machines for business radiation and market competitiveness, while the public enjoyed being able to deposit and withdraw cash at any time. .

The rapid development of bank ATMs originated from the development of financial technology, that is, it has achieved rapid expansion with the widespread application of credit cards and bank cards, but it is also due to the development of financial technology, especially the payment based on scanning QR codes. With the popularity of mobile payment, the application of cash has been greatly reduced and gradually shrunk. It is really born from bank cards and died by scanning QR codes to pay. So, is there a future for ATM machines in the future?

First of all, with the rise of mobile payment, my country's bank branches and ATM machines have shown a large shrinkage pattern. Although it is still too early to say that ATM machines have withdrawn from the stage of history, they have already shown a downward trend.

Along with the shrinkage of bank business outlets, bank ATMs have also greatly shrunk their defense lines, switching from expansionary layout to shrinking defense. According to the latest "Overall Operation of the Payment System in 2020" released by the central bank, As of the end of 2020, there were 1.0139 million ATM machines, a decrease of 83,900 units compared with the end of 2019. The number of ATMs per 10,000 people nationwide was 7.24, a year-on-year decrease of 7.95.

More importantly, the decline in the number of ATM machines has intensified in 2020. At the end of the first quarter, the end of the second quarter, and the end of the third quarter, the quarter-on-quarter decrease was 14,700 units, 30,900 units, and 23,100 units respectively. tower.

In sharp contrast to the shrinking of bank business outlets and the significant abolition of ATMs, is the growth of banks' non-cash payment business. According to data released by the central bank, banks across the country handled 354.721 billion non-cash payment businesses in 2020, with an amount of 4013.01 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.16 and 6.18, respectively.

The current results are the result of the continuous rapid development of mobile payment services in the banking industry and third-party payment. Central Bank data shows that from the end of 2015 to the end of 2019, the number of mobile payment transactions in the banking industry increased 6.3 times, from 138.37 100 million transactions increased to 101.431 billion, and the amount increased from 108.22 trillion yuan to 347.11 trillion yuan. The number of online payments by non-bank payment institutions increased by 7.76 times, from 82.145 billion to 719.998 billion, and the amount increased from 49.48 trillion yuan to 249.88 trillion yuan.

Since cash is no longer needed or the demand for cash and demand scenarios have been greatly compressed, it is not surprising that ATMs that use cash as a carrier are useless.

Secondly, the rise of ATM machines is due to the widespread use of bank cards after my country's "Gold Card Project", and the current decline of ATM machines is also due to the impact of the era of scan-code payment

ATM machines used to be a new service method for banks to replace manual labor and provide 24-hour service, with automatic teller machines, integrated deposit and withdrawal machines and self-service inquiry machines as typical representatives. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker even said, "The only useful invention in the banking industry is the ATM machine."

Judging from the course of history, ATM machines are born from worries and die from comfort; Time, die in time.

There are two major factors in the development of ATM machines: one is the cash era; the other is the widespread application of bank cards. The world's first ATM machine was put into use by the Enfield Branch of Barclays Bank in the UK on June 27, 1967. The first ATM in my country was introduced by the Zhuhai Branch of the Bank of China in 1987.

However, the real rapid development of ATM machines in our country came after my country launched the "Gold Card Project" in 1993, which focused on the application of electronic money. With the transformation of the banking system through computerization and the widespread use of bank cards, the widespread use of ATMs Provides premise and possibility. The payment system operation report released by the central bank shows that at the end of 2005, the number of ATMs in my country was 95,000. At the end of 2015, the number of ATMs in my country reached 866,700. China has become the world’s largest ATM sales market, with every automatic Teller machines have become the "money printing machines" of ATM manufacturers.

Due to the development of ATM machines, bank branches have entered hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, shopping malls and even streets and communities. At present, ATM machines are still an important place for people to deposit and withdraw cash, and have brought people convenient.

The so-called boom and bust, the development of financial technology has created a prosperous age of ATM machines; similarly, the further development of financial technology has also brought a "gravedigger" to the ATM machine industry, that is, mobile payment.

2015 was a watershed for ATM machines as a whole. Since then, although the number has not decreased significantly, it has shown a trend of reaching the end of its strength. In 2015, during the Spring Festival, WeChat joined hands with the Spring Festival Gala to launch a nationwide grab for WeChat red envelopes. In 2016, Alipay took over the Spring Festival Gala red envelope collection to collect five blessings. The momentum of mobile payment is unstoppable and cannot be collected once it is sent. Various mobile payments, especially scan-code payments, are rapidly covering Almost all scenarios in our lives have subverted the cash basis for the survival and development of ATMs. People no longer use cash in large quantities or even do not use cash.

Technology is the only force that can subvert the bank’s business model. There is nothing in this world that technology cannot change. Mobile payment has penetrated into almost all daily transaction activities, including shopping, scanning QR codes to ride in cars, scanning QR codes to rent power bank, e-commerce, catering, automobiles, real estate, medical care, tourism, etc. The most common mobile payments in our country are mainly familiar QR code payments, Quick Pass, third-party client payments, etc. Among them, scan-code payment is the earliest and most widely used method, the most familiar to the public, and the highest usage rate, with the highest usage rate in mobile payment reaching 93%. Do you still need an ATM machine after cash is no longer needed and used?

Thirdly, ATM machines have stepped down from the altar. When people no longer use cash, will ATM machines still have a future?

In fact, the current embarrassing situation of ATMs is not only due to mobile payments, although the development of mobile payments has indeed led to a significant reduction or decline in people's cash payments. In 2016, my country's total non-cash payments reached 1,251 trillion yuan, and in 2017, non-cash payments reached 1,362.14 trillion yuan, of which electronic payments accounted for 68% of non-cash payments. Scanning QR codes to pay has only changed people's payment methods and subverted their lifestyle of using cash. Accordingly, it is not an exaggeration to say that our country is transforming from a traditional cash society to a cashless society dominated by mobile payment, but it is a direct result of The consequence is an impact on the use of ATM machines.

Another relatively big impact factor is that banks themselves have impacted their own ATM machine applications, that is, the vigorous development of online banking. Faced with the impact of mobile payment and QR code payment, banks cannot sit still and wait, but banks will not develop various types of QR code payment. The bank's counterattack is the development of online banking, and mobile banking and online banking are the mainstays to form mobile online banking. The overall payment scenario replaces the payment and use of cash.

From 2013 to 2015, the online payment transaction volume of banking financial institutions was approximately 310 trillion yuan per quarter. After 2015, it reached approximately 560 trillion yuan per quarter, and exceeded 7 million in the first quarter of 2016. billion. Banks have greatly reduced the frequency and scale of counter business operations through online payment and mobile banking, which has led to a large number of businesses leaving the counter within the bank. At present, most banking business departure rates exceed 90%, and some banks have a departure rate of over the counter. Over 95. The departure of banking services from the counter will naturally offset the utilization rate and demand for ATM machines.

Currently, online banking customers can handle traditional services such as account opening, inquiry, reconciliation, intra-bank transfer, inter-bank transfer, credit, online securities, investment and financial management, etc., becoming a virtual bank counter in the Internet era. According to data, the number of online banking users in China reached 417 million in the first half of 2018, and 52% of the total Internet users have become online banking users. In the second quarter of 2018, the transaction size of China’s online banking customers reached 478.6 trillion yuan. Data show that the number of mobile payments in my country's banking industry soared from 60.531 billion in 2018 to 101.431 billion in 2019, an increase of 40.9 billion; the amount of mobile payment transactions in my country's banking industry increased from 108.22 trillion in 2015. yuan, reaching 347.11 trillion yuan by 2019, an increase of more than three times.

ATM machines are facing an embarrassing situation: they must either improve their functions to enhance their adaptability to reality, such as business presentations, online payment demonstrations and other new functional requirements; or they must face the fate of being eliminated. Both must be available. One. Do ATMs have a future? There certainly is. The key lies in the upgrade capability of the ATM machine itself.

Whether it is the closure and contraction of bank branches or the massive reduction of ATMs, it will fundamentally only intensify the transformation of bank branches and ATMs. Although banks are dynamically adjusting and withdrawing bank branches, However, it also increased the deployment and upgrade of self-service equipment. The bank is currently transforming and upgrading its branches to make them lighter, smarter and more distinctive, and at the same time accelerating the upgrade and iteration of online service platforms such as mobile banking, online banking, and customer service centers, thereby improving the bank's networked service processes and services through financial technology. efficiency. This requires ATM equipment to actively adapt to the needs of commercial banking institutions and branches to transform into lightweight, intelligent, and scenario-based directions, and to upgrade traditional ATM machines to more intelligent self-service equipment. This is the ATM of the future. machine's way out.

From a reality point of view, my country's banking industry's deployment of self-service equipment has not decreased, but has a trend of increasing. According to relevant data, by the end of 2018, the total number of self-service equipment deployed by the banking industry was 103 10,000 units, including 20,000 units of innovative self-service equipment; in 2019, the main focus will be on increasing the investment in smart counters, receipt printers, etc.

It can be seen that it is traditional ATM machines that have no future, not that ATM machines have no future. When ATM machines face the competition from banks’ super-intelligentization, they can only respond to bank intelligence and financial technology through intelligence. In the future of development, taking Agricultural Bank of China as an example, as of the end of June 2019, super counters have covered 22,000 branches across the bank, and the replacement rate for counter business has reached more than 94%. Super counter is an intelligent customer service channel and platform, consisting of "software", "hardware" and "backend". This may be the future development direction of ATM.

The only constant in this society is change. The rise of ATM machines was due to historical development opportunities, and the current problems are also realities that must be faced, but of course there are dangers in any change. There will be opportunities. As for whether ATM can seize the opportunities, it depends on its ability to upgrade and its intelligent future capabilities.