The world has changed a lot since the first ATM was installed in the UK in June 1967. While some countries like Sweden, Norway and Finland are well on their way to being entirely cashless, there are still some destinations where cash is king, like Japan, Germany and Morocco.
One such cash-reliant country is Tuvalu, a tiny island nation in the Pacific Ocean which is the second-least populous in the world – but that’s all about to change with the installation of its first ATMs.
Unveiled last week, five ATMs have been installed, with plans to install 30 point-of-sale terminals soon, according to The Guardian.
Just 3,136 people visited Tuvalu in 2023, making it one of the least-visited countries in the world. According to the 2022 census, less than 11,000 people call the country, which is made up of three reef islands and six atolls, their home.
Thinking about visiting yourself? Fiji Airways is the only airline to service Funafuti International Airport, with flights operating three times a week. The rest of the time the airport’s runway is used for sports.
Once you do make it to Tuvalu, there are just a few guesthouses and one hotel to choose from. As you might expect from a nation that covers less than 10 square miles, there aren’t an abundance of attractions – this is a place to embrace a slower pace of life.
One for snorkellers, there are 33 sq km of lagoon, reef, ocean and island habitats in the Funafuti Conservation Area that you can visit. Other attractions include a number of WWII sites, as American troops were stationed here during the war, and you can see Tuvaluan traditional dances at Maneapa (local town halls) across the islands.
With sea levels on the rise, Tuvalu is at risk of disappearing. Back in 2021, foreign minister Simon Kofe famously addressed COP26 while standing knee-deep in seawater.
