Wells Fargo removes ATMs from Minnesota Speedway stores as people go cashless

Wells Fargo customers stopping at a Speedway station will no longer be able to deposit a check or grab some cash from the ATM along with their gas purchase or car wash.

The bank is no longer servicing its ATMs in the gas station/convenience store chain, said Staci Schiller, a Wells Fargo spokeswoman. Beginning in March, the bank will remove all its cash machines — 178 of them — from every store around the state.

That adds up to 35% fewer in-network ATM options for Minnesotans with a Wells Fargo account, according to figures the bank provided.

Schiller said Wells Fargo will have 332 ATMs left in Minnesota on or before April 30, when the Speedway operation finishes. The bank also plans to open 54 enhanced ATMs, which allow larger withdrawals and multiple denominations, in its branches later this year. Those will include new cash machines, but the majority will replace older ones.

According to Wells Fargo, the bank’s ATM traffic in Speedway convenience stores is significantly down. Most stores already are near a branch or another in-network ATM, Schiller said, adding that customers are more often using branches to seek financial advice while conducting most daily transactions digitally.

Schiller said Wells Fargo made the decision to move out of Speedways, adding that the lease agreement brokered by a third-party vendor was “unable to be renewed.”

Many Minnesotans bank with Wells Fargo, which combined with Minneapolis-based Norwest Bank in 1998. After the merger, the new company kept the Wells Fargo name and its headquarters in San Francisco.

Wells Fargo customers who have used Speedway ATMs in the past started receiving notice of their closures as early as this past weekend via email. On-screen messages on the ATMs also inform users of the imminent removal.

Seven & i Holdings Co., a retail holdings company based in Japan that owns 7-Eleven, Inc., is the parent company of Speedway. Speedway signs started popping up across the Twin Cities in 2018 as the brand overtook SuperAmerica, a household name that grew from single store in downtown St. Paul to nearly 300 locations across the Upper Midwest. Wells Fargo ATMs are a remnant of the SuperAmerica days.

Last summer, 7-Eleven announced an expansion of its partnership with an independent ATM provider, to the tune of about 3,000 ATMs, including introduction of those machines to Speedways. 7-Eleven did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

The change comes as Americans use cash less often, with more digital payment options widely available. Mobile apps and services have grown in recent years, everything from money-transferring systems like Venmo to Wells Fargo’s own app allowing mobile check deposits.

Some Twin Cities businesses have abandoned cash altogether. However, consumers are finding some advantages it, including avoiding some Twin Cities small businesses passing down credit card fees to customers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Roughly a third of ATMs in the U.S. are in convenience stores, said Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores, a trade group. Outside of banks, Lenard said, the other most common locations for the machines are near places that only accept cash, like casinos.

Convenience stores still serve many customers using cash, Lenard said, and the ATMs still attract many customers. About of 14% of American adults who stopped in a convenience store used one, according to an online survey of gas station customers in March 2024.

Still, Lenard said “the use of cash is declining,” as most people rely more on cards and digital wallets, a factor that might be driving down ATM availability.

Many people shifted away from using cash during the pandemic. In 2023, cash accounted for 16% of payments compared with 18% in 2022, a new low since the Federal Reserve began polling consumers in 2016.

In the most recent report released in May 2024, cash ranked third in popularity, trailing behind debit and credit, which together made up 62% of purchases.

Cash use in the overall number of purchases has remained mostly flat for the past three years, the report found. Consumers also are using cash less even for small purchases under $25.

In a 2013 Government Accountability Office report, the estimated number of total ATMs in the U.S. was 420,000. The National Convenience Store Association’s last count of ATMs pre-pandemic was about 500,000.

Minnesota does not keep count of all the state’s ATMs. But ATM providers like CardTronics and Cash Depot — non-bank ATMs — must register, and about 1,900 of these exist across the state, according to the Minnesota Department of Commerce. That’s an increase from last year by nearly 100 machines.

It could be that some of those non-bank providers are stepping in to fill gaps bank-branded ATMs have left behind, said Ted Rossman, a senior analyst for Bankrate who specializes in credit cards and personal finance. As Wells Fargo has closed out its ATMs in other areas, Rossman said, other competitors did take the spot.

Rossman also noted the costs of maintaining ATMs, which can be expensive to operate, provide less of a return for banks as people use cash less often.

Still, some online banks are offering fee waivers to incentivize customers to sign up, as everyday consumers still desire these services. And while the business of running ATMs might be dwindling, there is still money to be made in providing cash.

“It’s a shrinking sector,” Rossman said, “but it’s by no means dead.”