Banks are out of cash and ATMs are disappearing. Do Poles have anything to worry about?

A recent study conducted by IBRiS for the Blik system operator shows that six out of ten respondents in Poland now pay cashless payments more often than using physical money. Cash is still preferred by just over 30%. respondents. At the same time, almost half of the survey participants consider access to cash to be beneficial necessary security. We can therefore assume that for now we are not threatened by the Swedish scenario.

What is this Swedish scenario? Well, at the beginning of March, the media reported on the recommendations of the Bank of Sweden. The institution advises that a household in this country should have 1,000. crowns in cash per adult. Converted into our currency, this amounts to approximately PLN 400. Therefore, the couple should have PLN 800 in a drawer or under the mattress. Fortune? Not necessarily. Especially in Sweden.

The recommendation is based on the fact that The Swedes have basically abandoned cash: 90 percent transactions in stores are cashless. Relatively recently, there was serious talk there about completely moving away from cash. However, the world situation has changed significantly, uncertainty has increased and complete dependence on digital solutions is no longer perceived as an ideal solution. Or even the only one. After Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine in 2022, Swedes rushed to ATMs for cash. And such situations always mean a problem because the system is not prepared for them.

How many ATMs can customers in Poland use today? According to NBP data, there were nearly 20.5 thousand of them at the end of September last year. Compared to the previous quarter, this meant a decrease of several dozen devices. What if we go deeper? It turns out that, for example, at the end of September 2020, there were almost 22,000 ATMs in Poland. The downward trend continues in the sector, which was confirmed by the largest player on the market – Euronet.

The company informed us that at the end of 2025, it had 7,440 ATMs in Poland. Several hundred machines less than in 2024. The number of devices may continue to decrease, and the reason is, among others, the level of the fee paid to Vistula operators for domestic cash withdrawal transactions. According to the company’s press office, it is too low. This is despite changes recently introduced by Visa and Mastercard.

On the Telepolis.pl website you could read that Euronet has entered the warpath with PSP, the operator of the Blik system. Machine users can now withdraw a maximum of PLN 200 at a time when transacting with the Blik code. Previously, the limit was PLN 800. Euronet representatives argued that the rates for these withdrawals are outrageously low and the transactions generate losses. The Blik operator criticized these actions and noted that they may reduce the safety and comfort of customers. Exaggeration? Not necessarily, as pointed out by… Euronet.

If ATMs withdraw about 80%. cash obtained by consumers, and the importance of this channel is constantly growing, the number of ATMs should be treated as a key indicator of access to cash. If this number is falling, it means that in practice access to cash is also deteriorating. Alternative forms of access to cash are of limited importance in this context – consumers either do not want to use them (e.g. cash withdrawals in stores) or have no real choice due to the decreasing number of cash register windows and bank branches.

It is worth dwelling on the issue of availability of cash in banks. Because indeed the number of bank branches is decreasing, but also, for example, branches offering cash withdrawals at counters. Additionally, institutions in this sector are experimenting with the availability of cash. An example is VeloBank, which decided that there will be no cashier services in its branches on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If a customer wants to withdraw or deposit money, he or she must use an ATM or cash deposit machine. How does the bank explain its decision? I asked the institution’s press office about this.

This change is in line with the natural direction of market development and the way in which customers increasingly use banking services. We want to make everyday matters easier for them through channels available 24/7, i.e. electronic banking and a network of ATMs and cash deposit machines, which allow them to perform most operations quickly and conveniently, regardless of the place and time of day. The change we have made applies to some bank branches, but it is worth remembering that on other days customers can still make cash withdrawals without any changes.

We also confirm that this change gives more space for calm conversation. Thanks to this, advisors can devote more attention and time to clients to present tailored solutions

Unfortunately, the bank representative did not want to answer a number of questions related to the decision to limit the availability of cash in branches. I asked, among others: about customer reactions, possible savings and the actual impact on queues in branches. However, it is apparently too early to draw conclusions.

Representatives of other banks were more talkative. I asked questions to those institutions that did today they have a large number of cashless branches. An example is BNP Paribas, which currently has 179 fully cashless branches in its network. They constitute over half (51%) of the entire network. The institution did not answer the question about further development in this direction, but declared that it had no plans to introduce solutions similar to those proposed by VeloBank. Therefore, customers do not have to worry about cash-free days. At least for now.

Agnieszka Gorzkowicz, deputy spokesperson of Credit Agricole, informed us that the institution currently has 162 of its own non-cash branches. This is the vast majority of our own 210 branches. What does it look like in the case of partner facilities? There are 148 of them, of which 25 offer cashless service. What’s next? The bank no longer plans to transform any further of its own branches, although individual transformations may occur. In the case of partner facilities, the initiative lies with their operators and any applications will be analyzed individually. What about Tuesday or Thursday without cashier service?

As for the no-cash day initiative, we are not planning it. We believe that if a branch is a cash branch, it must serve customers this way every day

ING’s press office argues that this institution also has no plans to introduce cash-free days in its branches. There are currently 149 of the latter in the non-cash version, which constitutes 63%. all network branches. The bank’s representatives said that they are equipped with “self-banking zones open 24 hours a day”. This simply means that you can use ATMs and cash deposit machines there.

I also heard from bank representatives that: in recent quarters, there has been no significant interest in cash withdrawals.

What is the availability of cash like today if we look at this issue more broadly? It is best to refer to NBP data. They show, for example, that: at the end of February this year. banknotes and coins worth over PLN 472 billion were in circulation. Meanwhile, in the corresponding period of 2025 it was PLN 411 billion. If we go back one more year, it turns out that the value of cash in circulation was just over PLN 374 billion. Looking at these data, it is difficult to conclude that cash is losing importance in Poland. What do the experts say?

The comment was provided by, among others: Dr. Wojciech Świder from the Poznań University of Economics.

In Poland, the attachment to cash is high among older people, but younger generations almost completely give up this form of payment. This happens largely at the grassroots level – for many people it is natural and convenient to pay by card or phone. On the other hand, the NBP strongly emphasizes that cash is an element of a diversified payment system, hence it does not seem likely that it will be significantly restricted. At the same time, however, it is possible to notice EU regulations that aim to limit cash payments of large amounts, which is intended to fight the gray zone and the black market.

In turn, Krzysztof Radojewski, an analyst from Noble Securities, leaves no doubt:

The availability of cash is decreasing and will continue to decrease – this is a result of the costs of maintaining ATMs, the development of online businesses, regulatory pressure and a number of other factors.

Another analyst, Michał Poleszczuk from Xelion Investment House, points out that cash availability in Poland remains high at the systemic level and points to the data from the National Bank of Poland mentioned above. However, there is a caveat here:

It is important to distinguish the amount of cash in the system from its physical availability. The number of ATMs has been decreasing for several quarters, mainly due to rising maintenance costs; currently there are approximately 20,000 of them in operation. In large cities, access to cash remains wide, while in smaller towns any reduction in infrastructure or limitation of withdrawal limits may be felt. The problem is not visible systemically, but it may occur locally

So the question arises: Is it worth having a stock of cash at home?as the Bank of Sweden recommends to its citizens? I turned to the domestic central bank with questions in this regard. Unfortunately, the press office of this institution was unable to provide an answer for several weeks. Eventually his employees… stopped answering my calls. The situation is at least puzzling, because president Adam Glapiński is considered a big fan of cash and tries to promote its use.

So I turned to the experts again. Doctor Wojciech Świder first pointed out that in the case of an extreme scenario, such as the outbreak of a full-scale war in Ukraine, cash will not be available in ATMs indefinitely. Therefore, you should always have a reserve at home. You should also think about diversifying your assets – part of them may be invested in physical precious metals, or some funds may also be transferred, for example, to a foreign brokerage account. What about foreign currencies? According to the expert, it is worth having them – especially if someone in an emergency situation wants to leave the country. It is also a protection against significant weakening of the Polish zloty. The expert sums it up as follows:

I wouldn’t rely 100 percent. on banks. Poles keep far too much money in banks, which means that unnecessary assets are devalued by inflation. On the other hand, I would not keep too much money in cash (regardless of the currency), because in the long run, inflation eats up the purchasing power of this money. In the long term, funds should be invested, but for payment purposes it is worth having some cash

According to the expert, cash still has a good future in Poland. A large part of society still uses this means of payment. It also does its job… attitude towards state structures: