An ATM (Automated Teller Machine) can be added to your small business to ensure timely payment processing once you have decided what is best for your operations.

Two of the most important things to understand about an ATM machine placement is:

1. It is usually only best considered for high traffic areas. It is also an industry assumption that 3-5% of people seeing the ATM machine will use it and
2. ATM profits are made through the surcharge for each valid withdrawal.

There are several ways for a business owner to have an ATM machine, the first being out-and-out full ownership. The merchant takes care of all costs, including the original machine price, paper for receipt printing, cash for the machine and maintenance charges.

A second consideration would be to have a machine through a Co-Op arrangement where you and the machine owner split all costs and profits 50/50.

For small businesses, probably the best choice for cost effectiveness is free ATM placement, where companies offer a fully serviced ATM machine installed in the business with no expense to the site owner and a benefit of a percentage of each surcharge paid to them.

What is an ATM machine? How does it work?

Similar to a vending machine, an automatic teller machine produces paper bills when you need them. It depends on the ATM machine, but most of them dispense more than one type of bill, usually focusing on $10 or $20. There is a physical limit on the amount of money each machine can hold. It is dependent on the manufacturer and is often not the same across all machines.

You need to use an ATM card to get access to your money. It is a plastic card with information stored on its magnetic strips. This information includes your bank account number and other details. Once you put it in an ATM machine, it asks you for your PIN, which is a password. This offers a double layer of security.

The ATM machine then connects to the bank’s network and accesses information about your account. This provides you with access to a number of ATM services. It lets you print account statements and transfer money to other accounts. Some banks also let you top up your prepaid phone. Other ATM services are also offered, though it is dependent on the bank and the type of account you hold with them. Some machines also charge a fee for using them; it is a choice made by the owner and the user is always notified of the fee before using the ATM machine.

An ATM in my business?

Many businesses often place an ATM machine in their premises. It offers them residual income and adds value to their customers. Business owners get a cut of the fee that may be charged for using the machine. While the fee may be low, it adds up on the long run, offering great value.

ATM machines work great in gas stations, liquor stores, convenience stores and fast food restaurants since these are places where people need to carry out smaller transactions. Bars, hotels, entertainment complexes are also businesses that can make a profit out of offering ATM services. Finally, they also work great in apartment complexes and manufacturing companies with many employees.

Conclusion

ATM machines have changed the way we carry money. They are an evolutionary step towards the phasing out of physical money. They have also helped many businesses offer value to their customers by offering ATM services, making these machines ubiquitous and even more helpful than before.

How is Foot Traffic Increased with an ATM Machine?

If cash is needed by a customer they will typically visit the closest business providing ATM services. A customer will not normally be concerned about the price of using an ATM and will be happy to pay any additional fees that being able to have convenient cash may bring. Customers will also be more likely to use your business on a daily basis, buying items from you at the same time as managing their banking requirements.

How much will it Cost to have an ATM Machine on my Premises?

There is hardly any risk to your business by having an ATM machine installed. You will not have to pay any rental fees, transaction fees or fees upfront. All you need is a relatively small area to place the ATM. It is also worth remembering that these machines use minimal electricity to run and are maintenance free.

If you have concerns that an ATM will not match the decor of your business, you will be reassured to discover that an ATM company providing ATM services will be able to supply you with a machine that matches the look of your business. The cabinets of ATMs are available in various styles, wood finishes and colors. You will also be able to choose whether you would like a unit that securely stands alone, or if you would prefer one to be set into a wall for access that is unobtrusive.

Attracting customers by installing an ATM on your premises is financially beneficial. Informing customers that there is an ATM on site is achieved easily by using the sign provided by the ATM company. Small store window signs or larger neon signs, as well as small stickers are perfect. By providing customers with machines dispensing $10 bills you will see your sales rocket.

How Does an ATM Machine Increase Foot Traffic?

When a customer needs cash, they will stop at the first business that will provide ATM services. Customers tend not to be price-sensitive when using an ATM, and are willing to pay an extra fee for the convenience of having easy cash at hand. In addition, customers will consider your business a part of their daily routine, purchasing products from your store while handling their banking needs.

What Does it Cost Me to Place an ATM in My Store?

When you place an ATM in your business, you have little to no risk. There are no upfront fees, transaction fees or rental fees. An ATM machine has a small footprint, and needs only a small area in which to operate. In addition, its power needs are low, making it a profit-making enterprise that requires no maintenance.

Are you worried that an ATM will not fit in with your business decor? ATM services companies can provide your business with the right machine for your overall look. ATM cabinets come in a variety of colors, wood finishes and styles. You can have the ATM built into the wall for unobtrusive access, or choose from a standalone unit that fits securely against the wall.

Having an ATM in your business will increase traffic by attracting customers into your store to complete financial transactions. Simply use the provided sign to tell your potential customers that your store has an ATM on site. Choose from a neon sign that will alert customers from a distance, or use a small sign in your store window. Are you looking for a low-key way to advertise your ATM on site? There are small stickers available for your store window. Offer machines that dispense $10 bills and watch your traffic and sales soar, this is a great feature in college towns.

Having an ATM on site can be a great boost for your business. Enjoy the profits from repeat business and loyal customers. Choose the right ATM company that will provide you with the most passive moneymaker your business will ever enjoy.

There are several ways to obtain an ATM, whether it is a leased ATM machine or a placement ATM machine. Knowing the difference between the two options is key to making a successful and profitable choice for business owners. A leased ATM machine is installed by a professional company and the employees are trained on its operation. The business will pay a monthly lease fee for the unit with the lease normally lasting between 12 and 60 months. Upon completion of the lease period, a business may choose to purchase the machine, upgrade to a newer unit or keep leasing for substantially lower monthly fees. Someone who is leasing an ATM will be required to use their own cash to keep the machine full but can decide what the surcharge will be. All surcharges are then kept by the business. The benefits of leasing include the fact that the monthly payment is normally covered by a few surcharges and the rest becomes profit to the business. The fees can also be deducted as operating expenses.

A placement ATM is commonly known as a free ATM machine. In this situation, the title describes the scenario. There is no cost to have the unit installed or maintained. An armored car will deliver the ATM and professional technicians will take care of all the monitoring and servicing. Surcharges will be pre-determined and a business owner will be granted a certain percentage of those fees. Full placement machines are 100% taken care of by the ATM company while partial placements require individuals to keep the machine equipped with their own cash. However, any money that is withdrawn is redeposited automatically. Most automatic teller machine companies will come to the place of business and do an evaluation to make sure the location qualifies for a free ATM machine set-up.

An ATM machine can be a valuable asset to any business or revenue driven event. The convenience of these units allows its users to access quick cash when needed as well as helping business owners gain marginal profit. Anyone who is considering the placement of an ATM machine needs to evaluate their particular situation and decide which purchasing option will work best for them. Professionals and companies who specialize in this service can also be great resources when an individual needs assistance in making the right decision.

Using an ATM, customers can access their bank accounts in order to make cash withdrawals, credit card cash advances, and check their account balances as well as purchase prepaid cellphone credit.

The idea of self-service in retail banking developed through independent and simultaneous efforts in Japan, Sweden, the United States and the United Kingdom. In the USA, Luther George Simjian has been credited with developing and building the first cash dispenser machine.[3] There is strong evidence to suggest that Simjian worked on this device before 1959 while his 132nd patent (US3079603) was first filed on 30 June 1960 (and granted 26 February 1963). The rollout of this machine, called Bankograph, was delayed a couple of years. This was due in part to Simjian’s Reflectone Electronics Inc. being acquired by Universal Match Corporation.[4] An experimental Bankograph was installed in New York City in 1961 by the City Bank of New York, but removed after 6 months due to the lack of customer acceptance. The Bankograph was an automated envelope deposit machine (accepting coins, cash and cheques) and it did not have cash dispensing features.[5] The Bankograph, however, embodied the preoccupation by US banks in finding alternative means to capture core deposits, while the concern of European and Asian banks was cash distribution.

A first cash dispensing device was used in Tokyo in 1966.[6][7] Although little is known of this first device, it seems to have been activated with a credit card rather than accessing current account balances. This technology had no immediate consequence in the international market.

In simultaneous and independent efforts, engineers in Sweden and Britain developed their own cash machines during the early 1960s. The first of these that was put into use was by Barclays Bank in Enfield Town in North London, United Kingdom,[8] on 27 June 1967. This machine was the first in the UK and was used by English comedy actor Reg Varney, at the time so as to ensure maximum publicity for the machines that were to become mainstream in the UK. This instance of the invention has been credited to John Shepherd-Barron,[9] while disregarding other engineers at De La Rue Instruments who contributed to the design and development of that machine. Nevertheless, Shepherd-Barron was awarded an OBE in the 2005 New Year’s Honours List.[10] His design used special checks that were matched with a personal identification number, as plastic bank cards had not yet been invented.[11]

The Barclays-De La Rue machine (called De La Rue Automatic Cash System or DACS) beat the Swedish saving banks’ and a company called Metior’s (a device called Bankomat) by nine days and Westminster Bank’s-Smith Industries-Chubb system (called Chubb MD2) by a month. The collaboration of a small start-up called Speytec and Midland Bank developed a third machine which was marketed after 1969 in Europe and the USA by the Burroughs Corporation. The patent for this device (GB1329964) was filed on September 1969 (and granted in 1973) by John David Edwards, Leonard Perkins, John Henry Donald, Peter Lee Chappell, Sean Benjamin Newcombe & Malcom David Roe.

Both the DACS and MD2 accepted only a single-use token or voucher which was retained by the machine while the Speytec worked with a card with a magnetic stripe at the back. Hence all this these worked on various principles including Carbon-14 and low-coercivity magnetism in order to make fraud more difficult. The idea of a PIN stored on the card was developed by a British engineer working in the MD2 named James Goodfellow in 1965 (patent GB1197183 filed on 2 May 1966 with Anthony Davies). The essence of this system was that is it enabled the verification of the customer with the debited account without human intervention. This patent is also the earliest instance of a complete “currency dispenser system” in the patent record. This patent was filled on 5 March 1968 in the USA (US 3543904) and granted on 1 December 1970. It had a profound influence on the industry as a whole. Not only did future entrants into the cash dispenser market such as NCR Corporation and IBM licence Goodfellow’s PIN system, but a number of later patents references this patent as “Prior Art Device”.[12]

After looking first hand at the experiences in Europe, in 1968 the networked ATM was pioneered in Dallas, Texas, by Donald Wetzel who was a department head at an automated baggage-handling company called Docutel. On September 2, 1969, Chemical Bank installed the first ATM in the U.S. at its branch in Rockville Centre, New York. The first ATMs were designed to dispense a fixed amount of cash when a user inserted a specially coded card.[13] A Chemical Bank advertisement boasted “On Sept. 2 our bank will open at 9:00 and never close again.”[14] Chemicals’ ATM, initially known as a Docuteller was designed by Donald Wetzel and his company Docutel. Chemical executives were initially hesitant about the electronic banking transition given the high cost of the early machines. Additionally, executives were concerned that customers would resist having machines handling their money.[15] In 1995, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History recognised Docutel and Wetzel as the inventors of the networked ATM.[16]

ATMs first came into use in December 1972 in the UK; the IBM 2984 was designed at the request of Lloyds Bank. The 2984 CIT (Cash Issuing Terminal) was the first true Cashpoint, similar in function to today’s machines; Cashpoint is still a registered trademark of Lloyds TSB in the UK. All were online and issued a variable amount which was immediately deducted from the account. A small number of 2984s were supplied to a US bank. Notable historical models of ATMs include the IBM 3624 and 473x series, Diebold 10xx and TABS 9000 series, and NCR 50xx series.

ATMs are placed not only near or inside the premises of banks, but also in locations such as shopping centers/malls, airports, grocery stores, petrol/gas stations, restaurants, or any place large numbers of people may gather. These represent two types of ATM installations: on and off premise. On premise ATMs are typically more advanced, multi-function machines that complement an actual bank branch’s capabilities and thus more expensive. Off premise machines are deployed by financial institutions and also ISOs (or Independent Sales Organizations) where there is usually just a straight need for cash, so they typically are the cheaper mono-function devices. In Canada, when an ATM is not operated by a financial institution it is known as a “White Label ATM”.

In North America, banks often have drive-thru lanes providing access to ATMs.

Many ATMs have a sign above them indicating the name of the bank or organization owning the ATM, and possibly including the list of ATM networks to which that machine is connected. This type of sign is called a topper.

Article sourced from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_teller_machine