The name of distributeurs et de points d’accès aux espèces en France métropolitaine s’est stabilized in 2021, après une légère baisse in 2020, mainly thanks to the development of points of distribution dans les commerces, according to a report published Monday by the Banque de France.

In total, there were 73,802 cash access points at the end of 2021, compared to 73,976 at the end of 2020, a decrease of 0.2%. Between 2019 and 2020, their number had decreased by 3.2%. “The network of the territory generally does not change from one year to the next,” commented the Banque de France, noting that, like last year, “more than 99% of the metropolitan population, aged 15 or older” had a means of access less than 15 minutes by car.

This stabilization is due to the development of withdrawal points in stores, which represent more than a third of the total and increased by 3.2% in 2021, while the number of ATMs decreased by 2%. “The decrease in the number of distributors is concentrated in the most populated and best equipped cities, which reflects an optimization of the existing facilities in these territories and, therefore, it is not likely to alter the accessibility indicators”, he specified without embargo the Bank of France.

More distributors in small municipalities

While the total number of ATMs has decreased, it has increased by 4.7% in municipalities with less than 500 inhabitants, which, however, only have a tiny part. Another notable development, compared to the end of 2020, the number of independent distributors has almost tripled to 352 points in mainland France.

Three operators share the market: the American Euronet and Brink’s and the Swedish Loomis. “These ATMs are located mainly, on the one hand, in places with high traffic -especially from foreign visitors (airports, tourist places or near borders, etc.) and, on the other hand, in rural locations without infrastructure, often in alliance with local authorities (municipalities)”, detailed the Banque de France.