Maintaining a cost-effective, reliable ATM network has become a challenge for banks and financial institutions. Yet, ATMs remain essential for cash access, especially in underserved or high-traffic locations. Flite’s ATM Managed Services has created measurable value for banks and financial institutions (FIs). By taking on the operational, technological, and logistical burdens of ATMs, Flite enables financial institutions to extend their national footprint, reduce CAPEX, and ensure uninterrupted, secure services. All without the complexity of managing it in-house. Deep dive into the details. Americans and ATMs Even though digital transactions are on the rise in the USA, ATMs have remained a fixed and relevant touchpoint for banks. Across American malls, convenience stores, supermarkets and department stores, you will still find ATM kiosks, highlighting the convenient service they provide.Thanks to ATMs, shoppers can access their cash stash on-the-go and perform easy transactions
should credit cards fail to function.Around 10 billion ATM transactions are performed in the US each year alone. America’s older
consumer demographic continues to rely on these devices for depositing or withdrawing cash,making balance enquiries or transferring money. ATMs are also popular in rural America because of the ease of access they provide to common banking services.Cash usage took a big hit during the pandemic and it became burdensome for banks and financial institutions to maintain ATMs, given the fear of virus transmission via currency notes. It also led FIs to focus their efforts on promoting digital transaction means. Another outcome of this scenario, however, was the rise of ATM-as-a service. ATM-as-a-service or ATM managed services provide banks and FIs with a seamless way to cater to customers while reducing ATM setup and maintenance costs. Funnily enough, cash usage, the sole reason ATMs still exist, impacts consumer spending. Some people have been reported as saying that carrying cash helps them to curb or regulate their spending. But department stores and hypermarkets report that having ATMs on their premises usually increases customer spending! Either way, there’s no denying that ATMs are a convenient way to access physical money 24/7, especially in situations where credit cards fail or there is no access to digital payment options. Why Should Banks and FIs Invest in Their ATM Experience? There’s a significant global push to digitize banking and retail transactions to the point where cash becomes a thing of the past. Experts cite traceability and cost reduction in currency printing expenses for Governments. Lower fraud and crime rates as also reasons to go digital. And yet, cash inspires trust. Traditional communities and seniors prefer to touch and feel their money more than the next generation. Marginal and vulnerable communities, too, and those who are unbanked, continue to rely on cash payments to get through their day. Cash transactions also maintain anonymity, making them popular with privacy warriors (a growing section).
For banks and FIs, though, the ATM should be viewed as more than a convenient way to give
customers access to their accounts 24/7. An ATM is akin to a familiar face in an out-of-the-way
town, a face-saver when a credit card has been overdrawn, a simple yet significant convenience
that leaves users thanking their banks for being there when they needed them the most. Banks
and FIs should recognize that.
There is nothing more damaging to a bank’s reputation than when customers meet an out-oforder ATM or a poorly-maintained one, right when they urgently require services. Downtimes can
disrupt customer plans, adding to their irritation with the service provider.
The “ATM experience” is something that FIs should treat as invaluable to the overall customer
experience. Enhancing it may improve public perception, given that the entire banking sector is
currently viewed negatively by the public. Midsize and regional banks should recognize the
importance of a seamless ATM experience and leverage it to attract unbanked customers.
Some benefits that banks receive from investing in a smooth ATM experience are as follows:
➔ Providing customers with access to their accounts, right when they need it the most,
encourages customer loyalty and builds trust. By minimizing ATM downtimes, improving
user interface experience, ironing out software glitches, and offering more self-service
options, banks can impact customer satisfaction and public perception. Having ATMs in
strategic locations like department stores or supermarket parking lots is another great way
to add value for customers.
➔ With ATMs, regional banks are able to reach underserved customers and rural
communities. This widens the bank’s customer base by bringing services to
neighbourhoods that may have been neglected by larger banks.
➔ ATMs open up attractive marketing opportunities for banks. Recall rates for ads shown on
ATMs are around 82% to 84%, meaning FIs have the undivided attention of customers to
provide information on suitable financial products for at least a few minutes.
➔ By providing on-premises ATMs, banks can easily streamline teller services, especially in
smaller banks where teller services may become expensive.
How ATM Managed Services Bring Value to Banks and FIs
All said and done, ATM management is expensive for banks. To produce and maintain one ATM
costs around $55,000, which depreciates at the rate of $11,000 per year. Given that cash
transactions are declining in certain pincodes, yet favored in others, offloading ATM management
to reliable ATM managed services is something banks should consider. It will save them the
hassle of engaging staff and vendors and so they can focus on improving core services.
Ensuring that an ATM has sufficient cash, is compliant with regulations, has updated software,
updated security, and dedicated personnel for repair and maintenance support is an overhead
that a bank could easily avoid by choosing to subscribe to an ATM-as-a-service. ATM managed
services help FIs save around 10% to 25% of operational costs, as per one study.
An ATM managed service performs several key functions. From scouting suitable locations for
drive through ATMs to ensuring that the ATM is fully compliant, a third-party service provider
takes the load off financial institutions.
Outsourcing ATM set-up and maintenance allows banks to scale at ease, not to mention the
reduction in CAPEX and OPEX burdens. ATM-as-a-Service usually helps in the following ways:
➔ Use of the latest in ATM technology
➔ Building and distributing software for ATM platforms
➔ Cash forecasting
➔ Site scouting and developing off-premises ATMs from scratch
➔ Site management services
➔ Security
Choosing The Flite Way
Flite offers a turnkey model that eliminates CAPEX burden while delivering secure, scalable, and
retail-ready ATM infrastructure, including drive-thru and off-site installations.
With cash management services, branding and marketing, and strategic ATM placement, Flite’s
ATM managed services allow financial institutions to focus on what matters most: delivering
exceptional service, minus the operational headache
