Confessions of an ATM Soothsayer

by Kent Schrock, Director - Financial Systems Marketing, Americas, for Fujitsu Transaction Solutions Inc. Excerpt from the "Future Trends" section of ATMmarketplace.com – August 4, 2003

Soothsaying is a risky business. The profession offers its advantages, however. Especially for ATM industry prophesiers who sense a subtle wind-shift of new, fresh and exciting trends.

One trend involves the ATM's evolvement into two distinct species: the advanced, all-the-bells-and-whistles machine and its no-nonsense, cash-only cousin. Another concerns competition. Aggressive retailer/bankers have surprise-attacked financial institutions with convenient, on-site ATM services. I predict this trend will grow stronger. Then there's the David and Goliath scenario: regional institutions feeling squeezed by giant, Tier-1 banks that grow ever larger.

What will tomorrow bring? A soothsayer speaks.

ATM expansion was fed by a rise in surcharges in the 1990s. Plant an ATM anywhere and they will come, reasoned the operators. That expansion, however, has resulted in a decline in transactions per unit. With multifunction units costing as much as $40,000 and simple machines amounting to less than $5,000, providers must carefully plan deployment strategies. Location is now deemed the best predictor of an ATM's success.

Because of these developments, I predict a general, tectonic movement of rich-featured ATMs into the branch location and other high-traffic areas such as airports and malls. According to Celent Communications, the number of advanced-function ATMs will reach 80,000 by 2005.

Read the full article on ATMmarketplace.com

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