Payment instruments are becoming more digital, as shown by statistics from the Bank of Italy: in the previous three years, the number of bank checks (-40%), cashier's checks (-13.7%), and effects (-28%), has declined, while transfers (+25.1%), direct debits (+18.5%), and debit card transactions through POS (+74.5%) have grown. The data shows how Italians' preferences for "physical" ways of payment are declining as electronic means of payment increase in value. From 2015 to 2021, bank branches decreased by 28.5% and localities with at least one bank branch decreased by 14.5%, while ATMs decreased by 11%. At a worldwide level, ATMs have decreased in the most industrialized regions of the globe, such as Europe and North America, in keeping with Italy's pattern, while ATMs have increased in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, although at low levels.
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