The growing need for automated teller machines including Bitcoin ATMs in developing nations such as Nigeria, India, and Kenya is propelling the growth of the global ATM market, says Technavio’s latest global ATM market report.
Emerging trends
The research highlights three key emerging trends predicted to impact market growth through 2020.
Aside investments in bitcoin ATMs by entrepreneurs, the research study also identifies deployment of ATM machines in off-site terminals and advances in technology emerging trends expected to propel the growth
of the global ATM market.
According to coinatmradar.com, which collates the location of bitcoin ATMs all over the world, there are presently 639 bitcoin ATMs in different parts of the world.
This is almost a 200% increase in the number reported by the same website in 2014 when it showed there were 211 Bitcoin ATMs operating on six continents.
Government initiatives for disbursing benefits, including food stamps, through electronic machines to reduce costs are driving ATM installations and this enables beneficiaries to access deposit accounts with the help of cards that work at ATMs and POS terminals.
Government initiatives
Africa launched its first bitcoin ATM in 2014 when Lamassu’s machine hit Johannesburg in South Africa. A year later, Botswana’s first Bitcoin ATM, a Skyhook model, landed in the country.
The Technavio study states that ATM installations in the cited countries are driven by initiatives designed and introduced by governments in the developing regions to meet the requirements of the rural customers of disbursing benefits, including food stamps, through electronic machines at reduced costs.