Growth of mobile payment casts a shadow over ATM manufacturers

The rapid growth of mobile payments in China has brought about a decline in bank self-service terminals including automatic, video and smart teller machines, initiating industry transformation.

As of the end of 2018, the number of ATMs at banks nationwide dropped by 17,800 quarter-on-quarter to 1.11 million. The average number of ATMs per 10,000 people also fell 1.6 percent from the previous quarter to 7.99, said the latest report on the overall operation of payment systems issued by the People's Bank of China, the central bank.

The decrease in ATM numbers triggered a decline in the performance of several companies principally engaged in the manufacturing, distribution and operation of such devices.