Rabat – The rate of expansion of cash machines in Morocco slowed down significantly at the end of the first half of 2022.
According to a recent report from Morocco’s Interbank Electronic Money Center (IMC), only five new ATMs were added to the country’s existing grid over the first six months of 2022.
The national grid of ATMs currently holds a little more than 8,000 units, increasing by a year-on-year moderate rate of 1%, the CMI report indicates.
Detailing the number of ATMs by city, the report explains that Casablanca is leading the way nationally with the highest number of ATMs: The business hub is home to more than 1,500 ATMs.
Second is Marrakech with 680 ATMs, followed by Rabat with 649 ATMs, and Tangier with 485 ATMs, the report notes. Agadir comes fifth with 422 ATMs and Fez follows with 410 ATMs.
CMI also notes that Morocco’s ATM network handled around 178 million withdrawals in the first quarter of the year, serving both Moroccan credit card holders as well as non-Moroccan credit card holders.
The number of transactions through ATMs has jumped by 11% compared to last year, CMI says.
ATM withdrawals stood at MAD 172.5 billion ($16.7 billion) in the course of the first six months of 2022, 10% up from the previous year, with a monthly average of more than 4,000 withdrawals.
The average ATM delivered MAD 4.3 million ($418,138) to customers, the report specifies.
The ratio of ATMs per credit cards in Morocco currently stands at exactly 2,312.
Despite being central to Morocco’s national strategy, the digitization of financial transactions are still lagging behind in Morocco, with recent data indicating that 98% of transactions are still done using cash, according to some estimates.
