How Much Money Does an ATM Hold? (4 Reliable Estimates)

You see them all the time and have used them throughout your life. Have you ever wondered how much money an (Automatic Teller Machine) ATM can hold?

Key Points

We estimate an average full-loaded ATM can hold $450,000 worth of bills.
For security reasons — depending on the location — the average ATM will hold between $20,000 and $100,000 worth of bills.

Some ATMs may hold as little as $1,000.

How do we calculate the average full-loaded ATM number of $450,000?

A typical Bank NCR ATM (NCR being the manufacturer) has four cassettes.

Each cassette can hold between 20 and 25 packets containing 100 notes.

If the bills are fresh and crisp, the cassettes can fit approximately 2500 notes — however, this drops to around 2000 when using more worn notes.

The table below shows how much money is held in an ATM for different bill denominations in each cassette. The table assumes 22 packets in each cassette:

**Estimated Amount of Money in a Fully-Loaded ATM**

In the example, ATM1’s cassettes 1 and 2 hold $20 bill denominations, and 3 and 4 hold $50’s. The total held in a fully-loaded ATM1 would be $308,000.

ATMs can have different cassette configurations, but the average for bank machines is four. Some ATMs, such as those that dispense cash only, may have a smaller capacity than ATMs that also accept deposits.

how-much-money-does-an-atm-hold — ATM Cassette

ATMs located in high-traffic areas or operated by large banks or financial institutions may hold more money than ATMs located in more minor trafficked areas or operated by smaller banks or financial institutions.

Do ATMs have GPS?

Yes, most ATMs do have GPS tracking devices installed.

It is now standard for all small standalone units (marketed to individual retail locations) to use cellular modems (rather than landlines), and they do have A-GPS on board.

ATMs are generally not monitored for location 24/7, even though they can be. The service is optional and costs. The profit on most ATMs is surprisingly tiny, and they are more for the convenience of the customers to enable other in-store purchases.

Most ATMs can also report if/when they lose power; nowadays, most come with tilt sensors. However, since stores frequently move them, those monitoring services are disabled. The geofence feature that would report if they were removed (stolen) would eat the (surprisingly minimal) profit.

Those smallest ATMs have an easy-to-remove cash cartridge, which is sometimes removed and stored separately at night or after hours. They are usually not tracked since they are mostly empty.

How much money does a gas station ATM hold?

Gas station ATMs are likely to be the smaller variety, though they may have the bank/main street sizes (four cassettes and higher) at busier stations.

A bank ATM typically has a lower fee than a gas station ATM and offers a wider range of services, such as the ability to deposit cash and checks.

Most gas station ATMs will hold cash amounts of between $1,000 and $5,000, one or two depleted cassettes.

Bottomline

ATMs located in high-traffic areas or operated by large banks or financial institutions may hold more money than ATMs located in more minor trafficked areas, such as gas stations, or operated by smaller banks or financial institutions.

An average bank ATM will likely hold anywhere from $20,000 to $100,000. A fully-loaded ATM will have $450,000+ depending the bill denominations in the cassettes.