(ORDO NEWS) — The highest mountain ATM in the world is located on the Khunjerab Pass, on the border of China and Pakistan, at an altitude of 4,693 meters.
Over the past few decades, the ATM has become one of the world’s most ubiquitous technological devices, but you wouldn’t expect to see one while traveling through the snow-capped mountains of Pakistan, would you?
And yet, the world’s tallest full-featured ATM has been installed at the border pass of Khunjerab Pass in the northern Pakistani province of Gilgit-Baltistan.
Installed by the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) in 2016, the solar and wind powered ATM is a truly extraordinary sight in such an isolated location.
The location of the world’s tallest ATM is confirmed by the Guinness Book of Records. This procedure was quite a complex task, which took the National Bank of Pakistan about four months.
Regular maintenance and replenishment of the ATM with cash is also quite a painstaking task, since the nearest bank is 82 kilometers away.
Sost NBP branch manager Zahid Hussain regularly drives up to the machine, navigating strong winds, storms, frequent landslides and dangerous mountain passes to make sure it is in working order.
Located at an altitude of 4,693 meters above sea level, the ATM mainly serves the border guards, who receive their monthly salary through it, a handful of local residents and those few people who cross the border through the pass.
At the same time, about 5 million rupees (1.3 million rubles) are withdrawn from it every couple of weeks.
A spokesman for the National Bank of Pakistan told the BBC that it usually takes about two and a half hours for a person to reach the world’s tallest ATM.
Despite the low transaction volume, the bank takes this machine seriously because of the people who rely on it.
“They may not be many, but they often live in the largest park and have no other means to transfer their salary to loved ones and family,” said Zahid Hussain.
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