ATMs have been facing competition from plastic money and online banking. However, with growing security concerns, there is a likelihood that ATMs already have loyal users who are unlikely to change their preference for dollar bills in the foreseeable future.
To serve this growing market niche, you should consider establishing an extensive network of ATMs to reach out to your clients. ATM solutions such as cash deposit and withdrawals, check deposits, multi-currency support, mini-statement generation, and more are key to the success of your business because of the following reasons.
Making Your Services Accessible
Unlike brick and mortar bank branches and credit unions, ATMs offer unrivaled access to banking and credit products on a 24/7/365 basis. The core banking services are depositing and withdrawing cash through debit and credit cards. Additionally, other services such as cashing checks, reviewing and accessing bank statements, stamp purchases are also important to clients. Therefore, an extensive ATM network expands the coverage of your business, making it more accessible to your client, a vital factor for building customer loyalty.
For a credit union, an ATM can support cash withdrawal and deposit for debt repayment, which can cut overhead costs and even reduce delinquency rates.
Increasing Your Revenue Streams
As the ATM processors, the network accessing fees are an essential form of revenue that you can earn without overhead costs such as rent and labor costs. The more the transactions, the higher your payments and the importance of targeting locations with high foot traffic, such as malls and busy walkways.
Additionally, ATM solutions allow banks or credit unions to diversify their revenue streams away from the common interest on loans, investments income, and account maintenance fees that can be volatile, especially in turbulent economic times.
Improving Your Network Security
Compared to online banking, the use of ATMs is relatively safer, especially with the enhanced security features on the ATMs, such as biometric security. It is important to note that when the security of your client’s account is breached, your brand image is damaged, and restoring confidence is an uphill task that may not often bear results due to the complexity and evolving nature of cybercrime.
It is also relatively harder to breach ATM security compared to online banking and credit union networks that can be easily targeted by malware. Hence, diversifying your service streams protects the integrity of your business.
Brand Marketing
Branded ATMs are ideal marketing options for building and maintaining brand awareness. The visibility created is extensive and reaches out to the target client base in need of banking or credit services. This is an ideal marketing channel with low advertisement costs and lasts as long as the brand icons and logos remain unchanged.
Branded ATMs can be particularly important for credit unions as offering convenient services is key to attracting new customers. Hence, you can identify economic trends in the market, giving rise to a demand for credit services and establish a network of branded ATMs to target prospective borrowers.
