Ten Banks Operate 78% of ATMs

Total number of ATMs rose to 60,933 machines, up about 6% in the course of two years, increasing from 57,541 active ATMs in April 2019, according to data released by the Central Bank of Iran.

Data cover payment instruments employed by 32 banks and credit institutions.  As expected the state-owned Bank Sepah, together with banks merged to it, owned the highest number of ATMs at 11,351.

Along with rise in the number of branches, the number of ATMs operated by the Bank Sepah rose after five banks and credit institutions merged to it last year.

Bank Sepah alone owned 4,215 ATMs by April 21 added to 7,136 ATMs operated by the merged banks, namely Ansar Bank, Bank Hekmat Iranian, Mehr Eqtesad Bank, Ghavamin Bank and Kosar Credit Institution.  

Bank Mell Iran, also fully controlled by the government, had 8,066 ATMs by the mentioned period, ranking second After Sepah.  

A total of 1,436 ATMs owend by the Bank Melli was installed in Tehran Province and the number provincial ATMs stood at 6,630.

Bank Sedarat Iran owned 5,199 ATMs, including 972 ATMs in Tehran and 4,227 ATMs in provinces across the country.

This was followed by Bank Mellat at 4,863, Tejarat Bank at 3,676, Bank Refah Kargaran at 3,456, Post Bank at 3,172, Agro Bank at 2,894 Shahr Bank at 2,618 and privately owned Eghtesad Novin Bank at 2,531.

Lenders with the lowest numbers of ATMs were Tose'e Credit Institution, Export Development Bank of Iran (the main export sector lender) and Bank of Industries and Mine, respectively with 27, 43 and 67 ATM machines.

PIN pad was another commonly used payment instrument used by clients at Iranian banks. A total of 65,527 PIN pad devices were installed in the banks and credit institutions by April 2021 with 13,244 in Tehran.

A PIN pad or PIN entry device (PED) is a device similar to a point of sale (POS) with the difference being that PIN pads are used inside the banks to help customers use banking services more easily.

Clients collectively used 393.27 million bankcards (including debit cards, gift cards and credit cards) by April 21. More than 25% of the cardholders were in Tehran Province.

ATMs processed more than 458.15 million transactions in the reviewed month. Transaction conducted by PIN pad devices were at 16.35 million.

According to report by World Bank in 2019, the number of ATM in Iran is far above the global average. The average for 2018 based on data collected from 145 countries was 56.11 ATMs per 100,000 adults. World Bank data shows in there were 88.65 ATMs per 100,000 adult population in Iran.

ATM is in its third decade of existence in Iran. Bank Sepah, the first Iranian bank, was the first to introduce the machine in 1992 by installing it in its main branch in central Tehran, issuing 100 debit cards only for its managers.