Number of ATMs falls amid shift to digital banking
CBK attributed the decline to banks encouraging customers to use mobile and digital channels, increased competition from mobile money services such as Safaricom’s M-Pesa and the need to reduce operating costs.
The number of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in Kenya has decreased by 2.66 percent, reaching 2,228 in 2025, according to the Central Bank of Kenya's (CBK) Bank Supervision Annual Report. The decline was observed from 2,289 ATMs in December 2024. The CBK cited the banks' encouragement of customers to utilize mobile and digital channels, heightened competition from mobile money services like Safaricom's M-Pesa, and the need to cut operating costs as the primary factors behind the reduction.
The decline in ATMs is a testament to the growing preference for digital banking solutions, with mobile money and digital banking services increasingly managing a larger share of transactions. Safaricom's M-Pesa platform, in particular, has garnered 40 million monthly active customers and has processed around 37 million transactions daily.
Over six months to March 6, 2026, M-Pesa has managed over 21.9 billion transactions valued at Sh20.2 trillion, boasting the capability to handle up to 6,000 transactions per second.
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