Auriga urges banks to exploit strong UK public support for their ATM banking services spelled out in new industry research

The new ATM Future Trends 2017 report is co-sponsored by Auriga and published today. Alongside great articles, the report contains some fascinating insights into how the industry and bank customers value ATMs and self-service banking.

Our response to the report’s findings is that they support how the ATM has an optimistic future that builds on a 50 year history of improving the bank service experience. Banks should be and, in many places, are exploiting their ATM networks to generate new revenue streams and improve customer satisfaction as an integral part of an omnichannel customer service strategy.

The UK research of 500 customers reveals a powerful attachment to the ATM in how UK consumers bank. 43% of UK respondents say they use an ATM on a weekly basis and 63% saying it is more important to have an ATM nearby compared to just 20% for having a branch nearby. UK consumers rank cash as the most secure payment method (5.62 on a scale from 1 to 7) followed by paying by debit card (4.63) and credit card (4.52).

In the context of the recent dispute over the LINK network of free ATMs the report is quite clear how important non-fee cash machine withdrawals are to them. Although they think there are enough ATMs (61%), customers do say it is very essential ( 60%) to have access to a fee-free ATM. 92% of UK consumers would like all ATMs to be fee free even if it means having to go further to find one.

The report found that UK consumers would like to see a range of other services offered at ATMs. One in ten UK consumers surveyed said that the UK doesn’t have enough ATMs that can do more than just dispense cash.

When asked what other services, they would like to see available at cash points the most popular options were:

• Cash withdrawal in multiple denominations – 52%
• Bill payments – 34%
• Real time transactions (e.g. deposited funds instantly credited to the account) – 32%

The research found that currency exchange (22%) and event ticket sales (7%) were also services that customers would like to see at ATMs.

There are other key insights into how UK bank customers would like their ATM to provide a more customised omnichannel experience. 21% of consumers would like to see an email receipt option for their ATM transactions, while 12% would like a more personalised preference setup available at machines. 5% would even like complex transactions like loan applications and account opening available through their ATM.

So, the report offers some real food for thought and is another great piece of work by the ATM Marketplace. To find out more, follow this link and download the guide on ATM Marketplace website:
https://www.atmmarketplace.com/whitepapers/2017-atm-future-trends/