Your branch or drive up ATM is past its prime and needs replacing. Or, you are building a new branch or establishing a presence in a new market and need the right ATM technology to support the endeavor. To help you prioritize and organize your buying decision, we offer 3 important things to consider when purchasing an ATM.

From the Perspective of a Former Branch Operations Executive As the person in charge of branch operations, one of your goals may be branch automation by way of implementing teller cash recyclers (TCR) on your teller lines. However, before you are given the green light to purchase, you have also been tasked with providing the justification for the investment. Why should it be implemented? What are the benefits, cost savings, and operational improvements you will see with the implementation? So, from my perspective as a former branch operations leader, I am here to answer the looming “why” question.

The adoption of cash automation technology, specifically teller cash recyclers, has continued to grow in the US. There are new players coming to market and the perennial powers are struggling to maintain dominant market share. With the wide variety of hardware choices out there, one of the most confusing, and perhaps contentious, parts of the customer buying journey is truly understanding how to integrate cash automation to the teller system and how the staff will adapt. In the following, we aim to debunk some of the myths out there about middleware and the fact that a very large percentage of cash automation units installed in regional and community financial institutions are driven by middleware.

“I’m at an impasse with our ATMs. I need to improve our ATM uptime and simplify the way we maintain and service them. We currently have multiple maintenance service providers who are supposed to keep my ATMs running, but something is always causing them to be down. And, it seems that multiple ATMs are down for multiple reasons every month and it’s not getting any better. My boss takes every opportunity to remind me how this is “affecting our brand” and I’ve told my ATM vendors that if our ATMs aren’t working, nothing else matters to our customers. But, I need to find someone who “gets it” and will be a partner that I can rely on to make managing ATM operations easier. And we desperately need someone who can keep my ATMs up and running.”

With over 3 decades of retail experience, I have found that the single most underappreciated aspect of running a retail business is controlling your most valuable inventory item, cash. Yes, as a Multi-Unit Subway Franchisee cash was an inventory item treated no differently than bread sticks, meat or cheese. I stocked it, I ordered it and most importantly, I counted it.

Let’s face it, managing ATMs can be challenging. It’s tough keeping up with repairs, technology advancements, and compliance, all while trying to best serve your customers. If you’re looking for help meeting these challenges and want to simplify ATM operations at the same time, finding the right managed services program offers desirable efficiencies and peace of mind. If you want to make managing your ATM fleet as convenient as possible, increase uptime, and strengthen your overall ATM Channel strategy, then consider the benefits of ATM managed services.