South Africa’s major banks are strategically reviewing their ATM networks, reshaping and shrinking branches, and enhancing digital services to improve their efficiency.
South Africa’s five biggest banks are continuously reviewing their ATM and branch networks to ensure they remain efficient and safe for customers to use.
This is part of a wider strategy to reduce their operating costs and increase their capital efficiency. Some, such as Tyme Bank, leverage South African retailers’ footprints and distribution channels as cash points. Standard Bank’s head of personal and private banking, Kabelo Makeke, said this is part of a strategy from banks to adjust their services to better align with customer needs.
The trend of ATMs being shut down and branch networks growing but the size of the facilities shrinking is set to continue in 2025. Absa said it will continue to own and directly manage the largest bank-owned fleet of ATMs in South Africa, ensuring that we are able to deliver cash and other essential services to clients.
“We have invested in newer devices that have superior capabilities – enabling a new generation of ATMs that accept higher value cash notes as well as coin deposits.” “Over the last few years, we have optimised our ATM footprint, and we are continuously reviewing areas where there is under-representation and making the necessary interventions,” Standard Bank South Africa told Daily Investor.
“In recent years, we have seen a significant increase in ATM cash deposits driven by branch cash migration.” It explained that the demand for ATM services depends on numerous factors, including economic growth and the interest rate. The transactions conducted through digital channels generate valuable data that the bank can use to provide services targeted to its clients’s needs and enhance their experience.
“We strongly believe in building lasting relationships and empowering clients to bank better by using digital and physical access channels to meet them where they are,” Capitec told Daily Investor. Similar to Absa, Nedbank attributed its reduction in ATMs and branch sizes to the enhanced capabilities of its online services.
Through its Project Imagine initiative, which focuses on digitally-driven outlets, Nedbank has streamlined its physical presence. In 2023, its branch floor space was reduced by 27,000m². Since 2014, total floor space has decreased by 111,000m², bringing it down to 137,000m². Nedbank’s adaptation has also been driven by strong growth in digital transaction volumes alongside a notable decline in branch-based transactions.
However, these numbers do not fully reflect the fundamental change in the nature of its ATM and branch offering in recent years. ADTs enable customers to deposit cash that is authenticated, counted, and immediately credited to their FNB accounts. These machines also offer cash withdrawals, bank statement printing, and prepaid purchases for airtime and electricity.
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