Research and Development Prospect of China’s ATM (Automatic Teller Machine) Industry, 2013-2017

At present, China is the world’s second largest ATM market; however, according to China’s official total population number of 1.354 billion in China in 2012, the ATM ownership was only 307 sets per million people; this number was higher than 265 sets per million people in 2011, and the level is close to the global level of 346 sets per million people; but there was still a relatively large gap compared with 786 sets per million people in Western European countries and 1,376 sets per million people in the United States.

According to the purchase statistics of the major banks, in 2012, the major state-owned commercial banks, joint-stock banks, postal savings, city commercial banks, rural commercial banks and other financial institutions have purchased about 100,700 sets of ATM equipments, increased by about 25,900 sets compared with 74,800 sets in 2011, and the growth rate was 34.75%. The five major state-owned commercial banks, Industrial and Commercial Bank, Agricultural Bank, Bank of China, Construction Bank and Bank of Communications, are still the key purchasers with the procurement volume of about 64,500 sets, accounting for 63.98% of the total volume in China. Of which, Agricultural Bank is the largest purchaser with the procurement volume of about 25,000 sets, accounting for about 24.84% (nearly 8 percentage points higher than 2011).

In recent years, the financial self-service equipment has developed from single teller machine, single deposit machine to cash recycling system (CRS), and also achieved cash cycle, which is an important progress in the ATM development history. In recent years, the procurement volume of CRSs in domestic banks has been increasing. According to the procurement data of major banks in 2012, the purchased number of CRSs was about 60,800 sets, accounting for 60.38% of the total equipment procurement volume; this number was increased slightly compared with 47.31% in 2011. This situation indicates that the CRSs have firmly occupied the mainstream position.

Currently, the main ATM suppliers in China’s market are GRGBanking, Hitachi, Yihua, Diebold, NCR, OKI, Eastcom and Wincor Nixdorf. According to the sales ranking in 2012, the top five manufacturers are GRGBanking, Hitachi, Yihua, Diebold and NCR.

In 2012, GRGBanking ranked first place for five consecutive years with the annual sales volume of 20,170 sets, increased by 2,670 sets in 2011, accounting for about 20.01%. Hitachi ranked second with the sales volume of 19,100 sets, increased by 5,100 over 2011, accounting for 18.95%. Yihua ranked third with the sales volume of 14,200, increased by 7,000 over last year, accounting for 14.09%.

In China, the ATM distribution density is significantly uneven in different regions, the demand for cash transaction is huge, and the banks make more efforts to strengthen the self-service business; China’s ATM market will usher in a huge potential affected by these factors. It is estimated that this industry will continue to maintain double-digit growth in the next three to five years, and China’s ATM newly install capacity will account for more than a half of the global volume.