Long Distance to the Nearest ATM as a Problem in 342 Municipalities
For years, the number of ATMs has been declining. In the last four years alone, 500 ATMs have been dismantled. The Austrian National Bank now wants to support particularly rural regions and set up to 120 new ATMs.
To improve cash supply in rural areas in Austria, the Austrian National Bank (OeNB) has started to set up its own ATMs. The first was opened on Tuesday in Obritzberg-Rust in Lower Austria, and a total of up to 120 cash dispensing machines are to be installed in the next two years. According to data evaluated by APA from the OeNB, more than 330,000 residents in Austria currently do not have an ATM in their community.
This corresponds to just under 4 percent of the population. According to updated OeNB data, 342 communities do not have an ATM, which was about 16 percent of all Austrian communities. The number results from the number of communities that do not have an ATM and no bank branch in the community area (328) plus the communities where there is a bank branch (with limited opening hours) but no ATM (14).
About one-third of the residents (around 116,000) without an ATM live in Lower Austria, which is about 7 percent of the Lower Austrian population. Currently, 113 Lower Austrian communities do not have a cash dispensing machine. In Upper Austria, more than 61,000 residents in 60 communities are affected, in Styria around 48,000 (28 communities), and in Burgenland just under 43,000 residents (52 communities). Salzburg is the least affected with 6 communities and just under 3,000 residents. In Vienna, there are no affected residents, with the 23 Viennese districts used as the data basis.
With around 30 percent, the share of Burgenland communities without an ATM is the highest in the federal state comparison, followed by Lower Austria (just under 20 percent), Tyrol, and Vorarlberg (each around 19 percent). Salzburg has the lowest share with 5.04 percent.
In some districts, long distances to the nearest ATM must also be accepted, including in the Waldviertel in Lower Austria. In the district of Gmünd, there are 6 communities where residents on average do not have an ATM within a radius of less than 5 kilometers. In the district of Horn, there are 4 communities, and in the district of Waidhofen an der Thaya, there are 3 communities. There are also larger gaps in Burgenland. In the district of Güssing, 7 communities are more than 5 kilometers away from the nearest ATM, and in the district of Oberwart, there are 4 communities.
According to OeNB data from the year 2024 - that is, before the opening of the new ATM in Obritzberg-Rust - 87 communities did not have a cash dispensing machine available within a distance of less than 5 kilometers. For 6 communities, the nearest ATM was even more than 10 kilometers away.
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here .
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