Figures released by the Bank of Mozambique (BdM) show that the number of automated teller machines (ATMs) provided by banks in the country has fallen by almost 12% in the last three years, totaling more than 1,500 units throughout Mozambique.
According to a BdM statistical report, quoted by the Mozambican Information Agency (AIM) on Thursday (4), by October 2023, the country had 1507 ATMs, compared to 1573 in 2022. In 2021, the number was 1637, while in 2020 there were a total of 1710 ATMs in operation.
The BoM report offers no explanation for this decline in the number of ATMs. However, the document also reveals a 25.5% reduction in the number of automatic payment terminals (TPA/POS), which fell from 36,541 in 2020 to 27,226 in October 2023.
Despite this drop in the number of ATMs and payment terminals, the report indicates an increase in the number of cards in circulation, which reached 3.9 million in October 2023, mainly debit cards, compared to 3.1 million in 2020.
The BdM data also highlights that 3.4 million debit cards, 124,000 credit cards and 264,000 prepaid cards are active in Mozambique. The country currently has 15 commercial banks, 12 micro-banks, as well as credit cooperatives and savings organizations, among other financial institutions.
These figures reflect significant changes in the banking and financial services landscape in Mozambique, and are a reflection of the transformations in the use of banking and financial services by the country’s population and companies.
