Fifty years after the world’s first ATM was launched, new figures from Nationwide show how East End market towns make up three of the top ten areas for highest cash machine usage.
As the 50th anniversary of the ATM - Automatic Teller Machine - is marked, customer data highlights that year-on-year usage across the UK dropped by around 2 per cent in the last 12 months to May, suggesting that while contactless and digital payments continue to have an impact, hordes of Brits are still keen on having cash in their pockets.
And with the world’s first ‘hole in the wall’ unveiled in Enfield, North London, on June 27th 1967, Nationwide’s figures show how it is the east side of the Capital where most people still draw out cash half a century on. The reason could be because East London has a high number of street markets and independent traders, meaning people are more likely to use cash to pay for goods as opposed to card, or alternative payment methods such as contactless.
The top ten areas for cash machine use and their recorded footfall account for just over 1.5 million transactions per year, according to Nationwide’s data, with the most used ATM being in Dagenham, accounting for around 200,000 separate transactions.
| 1.Ranking | Town (area) |
| 1. | Dagenham (Dagenham and Redbridge, East London) |
| 2. | Manchester Picadilly (Manchester) |
| 3. | Boscombe (Bournemouth, Dorset) |
| 4. | East Ham (Newham, East London) |
| 5. | Southall (Ealing, West London) |
| 6. | Bury (Greater Manchester) |
| 7. | Wrexham (North Wales) |
| 8. | Broadstairs (Thanet, Kent) |
| 9. | St Leonard’s (St Leonard’s-on-Sea, Hastings) |
| 10. | Upton Park (Newham, East London) |
Paul Horlock, Nationwide’s Director of Payments, said: “While digital transactions continue to climb in popularity due to convenience, having access to cash remains very much in the frame. The fact they are thriving half a century on is testament to their popularity and no high street would be complete without a ‘hole in the wall’.
“As Britain’s biggest building society, we believe it’s important to offer a range of payment solutions for our customers – everyone has different tastes. That is why we offer a growing range of payment options that suit the needs of our members – whether cash machines, mobile payments, contactless cards or Paym”.
