3 reasons why retail ATMs aren't going anywhere

This article was originally featured on ATM Marketplace by Editor Bradley Cooper, click here to learn more.

The ATM industry has been at a crossroad for several years. Between decreasing cash usage, rising digital payments tools and changing consumer attitudes, there has been a great deal of stress on the industry. That's not to mention rising costs, high fees and more, which have hit independent ATM operators hard.

Despite these issues, I'm convinced that retail ATMs will still be a staple in the years to come for a variety of key reasons that touch both customer preferences, security and more.

Here are three reasons in particular why retail ATMs aren't going anywhere.

Security

Retail ATMs are not necessarily more secure than bank ATMs, but for customers, retail ATMs can provide a feeling of security that is not present in the drive-thru.

At bank ATMs, customers are at risk of robbery. ATM Marketplace regularly covers stories of banking customers being robbed, threatened or in some cases physically attacked while using ATMs after hours. In one incident, a man stabbed a pregnant woman who was using an outdoor Bank of America ATM.

By comparison, retail ATMs are in a public space surrounded by people and have a greater perceived sense of security and safety.

This is backed up by data from Visa. Alicia Moore, head of US ATM product at Visa Inc., said in a study that 28% of customers feel safer using nonbank ATMs in stores vs. unstaffed bank ATM after hours.

Convenience

Customer preferences have changed dramatically. Where they used to go to the branch to do all their basic banking, now they want to be able to do all their banking on their own terms. As a result branches are transitioning away from transactional spaces to financial guidance centers to help customers with more in-depth questions.

When it comes to simpler transactions, convenience is the name of the game. Customers want to be able to do basic banking tasks such as transferring money, checking balances and more on their phone. The same principle applies to ATMs. Customers would rather have ATMs available at the store while they are shopping, as opposed to driving to a branch.

When the Visa study asked why customers wanted to use a nonbank ATM, 47% listed proximity while 45% said they could get cash while running errands. In addition, some branches do not provide ATMs outside of banking hours.

Advanced features

Now of course, one big deterrent of nonbank ATMs is that many of them will charge fees and may not provide all of the features at bank ATMs. But this is rapidly changing.

For one, the rise of surcharge free networks such as Allpoint+ is transforming retail ATMs. With this network of more than 55,000 ATMs, customers can get cash without having to pay fees. Many independent ATM operators are jumping on this trend since even though they get less money per transaction, the volume makes up for it.

In addition, retail ATMs are adding new features ranging from bill pay to cash deposit and more. This is to meet the growing demand of customers for convenient deposit accepting ATMs.

Of course there are many other features retail ATMs can provide including:

• Bitcoin purchasing and selling.
• Dynamic currency exchange.
• Balance transfer.
• Checking balance.
• Check deposit.

Bottom line

ATMs are transitioning away from single-use devices into multi-functional self-service banking tools. Retail is already a hotspot for self-service machines, so ATMs will continue to play a critical role in this space, especially as operators continue to add innovative banking features.

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