Where is world’s first highest ATM located?
The National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) installed an ATM near the Khunjerab Pass border crossing between China and Pakistan, which is located at a height of roughly 4,693 metres, as a way to demonstrate their technical prowess.
Since a few decades ago, ATMs have become a common sight everywhere except on peak tops in Pakistan’s snow-covered highlands, where you wouldn’t expect them to be. The installation date was September 6, 2016.
A fully functional ATM up above in the Karakoram mountain ranges is a class in itself providing another attraction for the visiting tourists. Khunjerab Pass lies at the Pak-China border in Gilgit-Baltistan province and has the world’s first solar and wind-powered ATM at the highest altitude, even above most clouds.
It is at the starting point of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CEPEC), as it inside the northern border of Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan Hunza, the Nagar District on the southwest edge of the Xinjiang region of China. It is a truly unforeseen sight in a desolated place as Khunjerab pass, the lowest paved border crossing in the world.
Guinness Book of World Records gave the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) a certified title of the ‘World’s highest ATM”, which took about four months of constant laborious venture to accomplish it. The pass is a centuries-old mountain pass found along the Silk Road, and it is about 14,300 feet above sea level in the Kupup area.
Providing maintenance and constant cash flow to it is no easy job as the nearest bank is about 82kms away.
