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Think about your local high street or town centre, what does it have in common with every town centre across the country? The same coffee shops? The same high-street fashion brands? You might not have thought about something even more obvious – the ATM.
Brits love their cash machines, as recent research we sponsored by ATM Marketplace demonstrated. But, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first ATM this year, what does the future have in store for this staple of the British high street?
Brits love cashpoints but we want more!
The research, of 500 UK customers, reveals a powerful attachment to the ATM in how UK consumers bank – 43% of UK respondents said they use at ATM on a weekly basis. But ATMs can do much more than just churn out notes. We found that there was clear demand from UK consumers to have other services available at cash points such as:
- Cash withdrawal in multiple denominations – 52%
- Bill payments – 34%
- Currency exchange – 22%
This demand to be able to do more on one device is nothing new. Mobile phones used to just be a tool for making phone calls, but now they’re used for everything from live video streams to banking. ATMs are in a strong position to adapt – you don’t need to upgrade your physical ATM to offer these new services, you just need to think about how cloud-based software can be used to evolve and personalise services dramatically.
Opportunities for the financial sector
With demand from consumers for services like currency exchange and ticket sales at ATMs the research has also found that there are big opportunities for banks and financial institutions. New revenue streams and ways to talk to their customers should help banks navigate the changing financial landscape.
The report offers some great food for thought about how banks can take their seemingly simple ATM and turn it into a powerhouse of omnichannel banking. For many consumers, the ATM is one of the main ways they interact with their bank and you need to make a good impression. 21% of respondents said they’d like an email receipt option for ATM transactions while personalised interfaces were also popular. So don’t think that just because they aren’t standing inside your branch, an ATM isn’t creating an impression of your customer service brand.
Don’t throw out your ATM!
The current system has left us in a place where ATMs operate in technology silos – banks are finding it difficult to integrate them with other systems to meet customer needs. Instead of ripping out machines, financial institutions need to look to web-based software that works across platforms.
Auriga is a co-sponsor of the ATM Future Trends 2017 report. To find out more, clich the button and download the guide on ATM Marketplace website.
