In what is reflective of banks' increasing thrust on using the cheaper automated teller machines (ATM) channel for service delivery, nearly 19,000 ATMs were added last fiscal to the National Financial Switch.
"The number of ATMs connected to National Financial Switch (NFS) being operated by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has grown by about 19,000 in one year," a release issued here by the NPCI said.
The total number of ATMs under the NFS now stands at 75,178, it said, adding, SBI and associate banks own the largest number of ATMs at 25,060 followed by Axis Bank (6,270), ICICI Bank (6,104), HDFC Bank (5,471) and Punjab National Bank (5,050).
The NFS now has 54 member banks and requests of five others are currently under process to join the network, the release said.