One of the strangest things about the ATM industry is that your customer is anyone in the world with a bank account and the ability to withdraw cash from an ATM.

As such, it’s incredibly difficult to pin down specific demographics. One thing all of your customers want is cash.

Maximising uptime is the base level of service any ATM provider can give their customers. A working ATM, with cash, when they need it.

But they want so much more than just cash.

SECURITY

We’re big advocates of taking preventative measures to safe guard your customer’s cash but security is a big subject.

ATMs situated in poorly lit areas or appear rundown are less likely to be used because the perception is they are less secure.

Upgrading lighting and investing in refreshing facias keeps your ATMs looking fresh.

Even ATMs located in convenience stores are less likely to be used if they are in high traffic areas where their details can be observed or appear too neglected in some way.

Evidence of vandalism or any kind of tampering communicates to the customer that the ATM has been the victim of criminal activity and therefore more at risk from ATM fraud.

Maintaining your network on the outside as well as on the inside restores confidence and keeps your ATM real estate, prime real estate.

CONVENIENCE

Customers want cash and they want it now. That’s a given.

However, if you take into account the expectations of the average customer’s other interactions, their standards are high, their patience is short and their time is limited.

Your ATM needs to work straight away and provide them with sensible denominations in short order or they’ll never come back.

Any machine that takes the card too slowly, lags when processing inputs or takes too long to dispense cash will be written off by the customer as an old machine in need of replacement and they won’t come back until it is.

Maintaining the ATM’s firmware, presenter modules and cassettes all ensure the customer gets the experience they expect.

FEES

Surprisingly enough, ATM customers don’t mind paying a fee if that fee is felt to be reasonable. It’s broadly understood in a capitalist society that we pay for the convenience of a service.

Not having to abandon your items to find the nearest high street ATM because there is one instore is the very definition of convenience.

Where ATM providers, particularly IADs, miss out, is when that fee becomes unreasonable or artificially inflated because the provider perceives that the customer has no choice but to use their service.

Of course, the model is sound in so much as the more cash the customer withdraws, the better value the withdrawal becomes but charging too much costs you your reputation.

Customers who feel overcharged will not use that ATM again and will negatively impact on their perception of ATMs in general.

Ensuring you balance your needs with those of the customer is the key to winning over a scepticle audience.

Providing your customers with an ATM network that looks and feels secure, operates quickly and efficiently – in so doing proving a valuable service – is a sure fire way to keep your customers coming back to your network.

Explore our maintenance, upgrade and security services or contact us to speak to one of our ATM product experts.