India's war on cash: ATM network expansion has seen sharp drop since 2014

In 2014-17, growth rate in ATM additions declined 91 percentage points, card transactions rose 245%

As the world marks the 50th year of the first Automated Teller Machine (ATM) rolled out by Barclays Bank at Enfield in London, India seems to be in the midst of a full-blown war against cash. Five phenomena capture the Modi administration’s attempts to restrict the use of cash and steer India towards a less cash economy

One indicates that the government is squeezing easy access to cash through ATMs which had grown exponentially during the erstwhile United Progressive Alliance (UPA) administration. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data suggest that in the three years from the Modi administration taking over