Analysis of the Optimal Location of Bank Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in Turkmenistan

In recent years, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) have become one of the most profitable areas of the banking system but at the same time they also represent an area of much debate regarding the future of the financial-banking industry. Placing ATMs in the right locations has become one of the main problems in present day society. For this reason, banks have started to study this issue from a scientific point of view, in order to validate and assess other criteria considered when making decisions regarding specific localization, criteria such as target market characteristics, visibility, security, competition, social considerations, a rigorous analysis must be conducted. Researchers have developed and proposed several models and theoretical approaches to solve this problem. In this article, a method of solving the problem of placing ATMs in effective locations is proposed and calculations are made on the basis of a regulatory analysis of ATMs operating in a specific country, namely Turkmenistan. The monthly income of an ATM in an optimal location is about 2.96 times higher than the monthly income of an ATM in a non-optimal location. The results of our research show that the loss of an ATM placed in a non-optimal location is approximately 66% of its total income for a certain period of time.

JEL classification: C02, C10, G21