Israel trails behind the European Union in both the number of ATM machines and in the average cash withdrawal, according to the figures compiled by the European Central Bank and the Bank of Israel Foreign Exchange Activity and Banking Supervision Departments.
Israel has only 208 ATM machines per million residents, compared with 295 in Sweden, 330 in Greece, 344 in Ireland, and 412 in Finland. Spain leads the list with 1,123 machines per million residents, followed by Portugal - 970, Luxembourg - 737, Austria - 727, and Belgium - 669.
Further down the list are Germany with 580 machines per million residents, France 582, Britain 575, Italy 549, and the Netherlands 435.
Israel also trails in the average per capital withdrawal in euro terms only €52, compared with €61 - France, €70 - Finland, €71 - Portugal, €91 - Britain, and €92 - Ireland.
The highest per capital withdrawal was in Italy €163, followed by Greece €157, Germany €146, Austria €132, Luxembourg €117, Belgium €106, and Sweden €100.
Israelis withdraw an annual average of only €1,092, trailing behind France €1,098, Italy €1,467, Luxembourg €1,521, and Spain €1,530.
Heading the list were Sweden €3,600, Finland €3,290, Ireland €3,220, Britain €3,094, German €2,920, and Portugal €2,272.
Published by Globes [online] -l www.globes.co.il - on July 14, 2003