A shortage of cash and a surfeit of ATMs

Data shows TN ranks high in terms of number of ATMs

: Even as thousands of people continue to throng Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) across the country intending to withdraw cash, data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) suggests that Tamil Nadu is better placed in terms of the number of ATMs and also leads in the number of white label ATMs.

White label ATMs are the ones operated by non-banking entities providing banking services to customers based on the cards (debit/credit/prepaid) issued by banks.

According to the RBI, Tamil Nadu had a total of 23,728 ATMs located across the State for the quarter ended June this year.

In terms of the total number of ATMs, Tamil Nadu stands second only next to Maharashtra, which has a total of 24,829 ATMs.

But considering Maharashtra’s population which is about 11.24 crore as per Census 2011, Tamil Nadu could be considered better placed since its population is only 7.21 crore. The total number of ATMs in Tamil Nadu includes 12,501 ATMs of Scheduled Commercial Banks, 8,011 belonging to private sector banks and 95 ATMs of foreign banks.

Tamil Nadu also tops the list of States with ‘white label’ ATMs in the country with 3,121.