The UK recorded 54 cash machine withdrawals per person in 2014 - the highest in the world.
Germany has the largest amount of cash withdrawn per adult in Western Europe. Adults in Germany withdraw on average over £3,500.00 a year from ATMs.
What can we conclude from these findings?
ATM usage is an important factor in attracting new customers to any bank, so arguably unless you allow 5 free withdrawals every month you will be penalizing your customers with withdrawal fees (as the average Briton withdraws money once a week, not just 2 or 3 times a month)
Larger withdrawal amounts in Germany may be due to the fact than many/most banks charge ATM withdrawal fees, so this is a more cost effective way to obtain cash. However, the side effect of this is reducing card usage as customers then use the withdrawn cash instead of their card.
In most of the developed world, you don’t even need to consider if a restaurant will accept credit card payment. You will be caught out regularly if you assume the same in Germany.
Maestro is much more widely accepted, but cash is king.
It’s due to the culture in Germany where the majority of people prefer cash, not because of ATM fees. You can avoid ATM fees in most cases in Germany by only withdrawing from your own bank’s machines too.
