ATMs have been around for many years a very important element in the daily life of a large number of people. Although card payment has been widely available for a long time, there are still many companies that refuse this payment system for small amounts (not to mention those that do not directly have a data phone, for whatever reason). in many cases some money can make a big difference. The ability to dispose of money in cash is therefore essential in many cases.

Given the many messages posted between yesterday and the day before yesterday the European Central Bank seems to have decided to remove them with the stroke of a pen. There have been reports in the papers that ATMs are going away, saying goodbye, and that it will completely change the way we get cash. Wow, with so many disasters, I almost wanted to go down the street and do a few things selfie with neighborhood ATMs. I don’t know, for having the memory of them when they’re gone, and who knows, maybe for being able to show that technological anachronism to future generations.

Of course, What if we actually find ourselves facing another drug overdose? clickbait? The truth is that summer is mostly barren ground for news, so it’s sometimes necessary to stretch what little is happening to make the informational offer complete. Although it may also be related to what the scandalous headline shoots more, even if it is not true, than reality. And it will not surprise anyone, because we again find ourselves in front of the second of the possibilities.

The truth is that there are far fewer ATMs today (and fewer bank branches) than ten years ago, and there will probably be fewer in ten years than now. Electronic payment methods, especially smartphones, have seen a boom compared to cash payments as a result of the pandemic. So the reality is (and it’s fair to admit that some other medium has raised it this way) that their numbers will continue to decline as they are less needed. As was the case with payphones, internet cafes and hat shops.

The worst, the bloodiest thing is that many of these articles, the ones that warn of the disappearance of ATMs in sensational headlines, then remain that the mobile is gaining positions compared to the card and that subsequently ATMs will include (some already have) an NFC reader with the necessary software to use a smartphone or smartwatch as if it were a card. This means that in any case it would be necessary to talk about the hypothetical disappearance of cards (which for the time being).

NFC technology For several years now, it has proven to be the most useful in everyday activities, from making payments to being the “container” of our shipping titles, to name just a few common examples. And we can be clear that now that it has been fully standardized on smartphones and other devices, we will continue to see new types of its use in the future, for example to exchange contact information with NameDrop in iOS 17., as Apple announced at WWDC 2023.

So if you happen to come across one of those headlines and start to worry, you can breathe a sigh of relief… at least until you have to withdraw money from a non-bank ATM and the device in question reminds you of the fee you’ll be have to pay