Nairobi, Dec 10 (IANS): The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the use of digital financial channels in Kenya, dealing a blow to automated teller machines (ATM), which have recorded a faster decline in the last eight months, a new data from the Central Bank showed.
The east African nation at the end of October had 2,409 ATMs, according to the apex bank, down from 2,459 in January, Xinhua reported.
This is a decline of 50 machines in about 10 months, the bulk of the fall in the second and third quarters, to push the total number to a seven-year low.
And as the number of ATMs falls, mobile money usage has surged during the pandemic period to clock 528.9 billion shillings (about 4.9 billion US dollars) a month, the highest ever.