Public access to cash update report as at year-end 2023

The update confirms that cash continued to be very easily accessible nationwide in 2023. 98.8% of the population was located less than 15 minutes by car from a cash access point equipped with at least one automated teller machine (ATM), unchanged year-on-year, and this figure rises to 99.9% if private cash access points in retail outlets (“private access points”)  are taken into account. 

This continued easy availability can be explained by the fact that the distribution of ATMs across metropolitan France remains well-balanced. In general, the banking sector’s streamlining of the ATM network in recent years – given the decline in the use of cash in transactions – has been concentrated in the most populated and best-equipped urban areas. Consequently, cash accessibility indicators remain particularly stable at this stage.

A total of 71,541 ATMs and private access points were in operation in metropolitan France at the end of 2023, down slightly on the figure for the end of 2022 (-2.3%). 

The analysis shows that complementary cash distribution services in retail outlets are continuing to expand and contribute to public cash access, particularly in rural areas. The number of private access points for all four networks concerned rose by 1.7% over the year, to 27,418. 

In parallel, the number of ATM sites  fell by 3.9% between 2022 and 2023, while the number of ATMs fell by 4.6% to 44,123 (from 46,249 in 2022). The majority of the decline (98%) was in municipalities with over 2,000 inhabitants (2,085 closures out of the national total of 2,126), while smaller municipalities were almost unaffected. 

A map of points of access in metropolitan France has been published to accompany this report. The tool is available in two formats and allows users to locate a point of access (ATM or private access point) in a specific area and find out the number of cash access points in each municipality. The information is anonymised.