September 2023

7 ATM Installation Tips

ATM installation can be an overwhelming process for some independent ATM deployers (IADs). However, it should be the most exciting part of starting an ATM business! ATM installation means you’re just steps away from entering into business and making passive income.

Although overwhelming, the process is quite simple, especially when you know ahead of time what to expect. Here, we provide 7 ATM installation tips so that you can rest assured knowing that you are checking all of the boxes. And don’t forget, you always have access to professional help should and when you need it.

1. Choose the Right Spot

The most important ATM installation task is choosing the right spot. To do so, there are many factors to consider.

Convenient Yet Secure

You want to choose a spot that is easy for customers to get to but difficult for criminals to get to. So, this means a clear path in a high-traffic area away from doors and windows. Customers should be able to see the machine right away and be able to get to it easily. However, the machine should be protected from break-ins, enough so that it’s more risk than it’s worth to try to get to it for theft or vandalism.

High-traffic areas are great for increasing usage, but they are also simple security measures. The more eyes on the machine at any time the better. The machine should be in eyesight of cashiers or employees or at least within the view of security cameras.

For the same reasons, the ATM area should be well-lit. This helps customers see the machine and feel safe and comfortable using it which increases usage. But it also deters criminals.

Close to a Power Source

Your machine will also need to be powered. So you will need to install your ATM machine within a few feet of a power source. It is recommended that you use 110/115v 15a outlets that aren’t dedicated to other major appliances (freezers, refrigerators, etc.). It’s a good idea to use a surge protector, too, and maybe even an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) so that your machine remains operable during any outages.

Connect your machine to a dedicated standard phone line. If you try to connect the ATM to a fax line, a shared line or a PBX phone system you risk transaction issues like delays, non-dispensing, incomplete transactions, etc. Save yourself the headache and just install a separate phone line.

Adherence to ADA Guidelines

ATM placements have to be in compliance with the rules and regulations outlined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This gives people with disabilities equal access to public services.

All ATMs need to be accessible to people with disabilities, so certain accommodations are mandated. ATM manufacturers are aware of ADA guidelines, so new machines should already be equipped with Braille, earphone jacks, and compliant keypads.

However, it is up to you—the ATM owner—and the location owner to make sure that the area around the machine is clear and wheelchair accessible. This is the responsibility of the property manager or merchant, regardless of the arrangement made with the ATM owner or other ATM provider.

Include a clause in your site location agreement (SLA) to ensure the location understands that they can’t permanently block access to the ATM with inventory or other barriers. The minimum clear floor or ground space required for accommodating a single, stationary wheelchair and occupant is 30 x 48 inches (10 sq. ft.), so that is the space needed in front of the ATM to comply with the ADA wheelchair access guidelines.

Furthermore, an ATM’s reach, the height of the uppermost function key on the machine, should be no higher than 48” from the ground. This ensures that all customers can easily access all input controls. It’s especially important to keep this in mind when installing wall mount ATM machines.

2. Secure the Machine

Choosing a strategic location for ATM installation is important to maintaining its security. But there are additional measures you can take during installation to make sure the machine is protected, especially if the only space available at your location isn’t ideal.

Without blocking access to the front of the machine, limit physical access to the case. If the machine is against a wall and closed off on either side by other walls or furniture, this limits the areas of the machine vulnerable to tampering.

This especially helps prevent logical attacks which involve accessing the mainboard and other internal electronics to breach the software or hardware. Blocking the back and sides of the machine makes it difficult for scammers to access points of ingress.

As far as preventing physical attacks, you want to make sure the machine is bolted to the floor. The ground should be level. First, so that you avoid warping, bending, or otherwise damaging the ATM cabinet. Second, so that someone can’t pry the machine up with a crowbar or other tools. Once bolted, try to budge it. The machine should not give, shift, or wobble.

If there are not security cameras at your location already, or at nearby locations if you place your machine outdoors, install your own. Security cameras and alarm systems help monitor the ATM’s surroundings both increasing customer comfortability and deterring crime. You can even advertise that your machine is under surveillance.

3. Opt for a Wireless Device

The machine has to be connected to a communications device such as an internet connection or a wireless communication device. We recommend investing in your own wireless device so that you aren’t at the mercy of the location’s internet service provider (ISP).

If communication is interrupted, you’re out of business. Having your own communications device allows you to troubleshoot quicker and ensure that you always have a reliable connection. The alternative is waiting for the location owner to handle any reboots or dealing with their ISP which can be time-consuming and frustrating. It’s best to have this ready at the time of your ATM installation, just in case, but it can always be added later.

4. Load Enough Cash

You can’t start operating your ATM business without vault cash. Load your machine with about $2,000-$3,000 in cash at first. Then monitor the activity via remote online monitoring system to see if you need more or less to facilitate withdrawals in between vaulting. If you use your own money to vault the machine, you can use less than $2,000 if that’s all you have. This just means you might have to load cash more often.

The most important part of loading cash is ensuring that your machine doesn’t run out. Cash vending is your business; so you’ve got to make sure your machine is equipped to provide this service. Try to load extra at first as a safeguard until you get a good idea of how much traffic your machine sees in a week.

5. Advertise

Once ATM installation is complete and you’re up and running, you will want to make sure that customers and passersby know. Add signage advertising ATM service. Work with the merchant or location owner to run promotions or offer coupons with ATM transactions. These are great ways to jumpstart your ATM business and start earning revenue.

6. Seek Professional Help and Training

It is more than possible for you to handle installation on your own. However, it might be a good idea to seek professional assistance for your first machine. This will help save you time and prevent avoidable mistakes. Then, once you’ve experienced the installation process once, you can do it easily and for free for all machines you install afterward.

Work with your ATM provider to see what kind of installation support they offer. They might have manuals or guides they can provide you with, or they might have a number of technicians already working for them and their clients. See if they offer phone support and when. If you want to handle the ATM installation yourself, you might want to make sure you do so during business hours in case you need to call with questions.

You can always hire a local third-party professional ATM technician to help you with the ATM installation. Costs will vary based on the distance a technician is from your location, but plan to budget around $350 for this service. It’s well-worth it to ensure that the ATM installation goes smoothly, and you can get training simultaneously.

Watch and learn. Ask questions. Take notes. A lot of technicians will also let you film part or all of the process. Then you can just refer back to it later.

7. Test the ATM Installation

Finally, test your machine once it’s installed. You want to identify any mistakes, error codes, or other problems before a customer does. All it takes is making a test transaction on your machine.

You should actually do this every time you vault your machine. Dispensing the wrong bills can be a very costly mistake. Your machine might give a customer too much, and you won’t notice unless an honest person alerts someone to the issue. Or, you could short a customer and have to deal with complaints, chargebacks, and journal requests. This can have long-term consequences if customers lose trust in your machine and your service.

It takes seconds to make a test transaction, and you can often get ATM fee reimbursement from your bank.

Ready for ATM Installation?

Hopefully this list of ATM installation tips helps you feel more comfortable with the process. If you follow these guidelines, you shouldn’t have any problems. Remember that professional help is always available.

If you purchase an ATM from ATMDepot.com, we can arrange for the ATM to be professionally installed for you by a certified ATM technician. We recommend a professional installation for your first machine. We can also arrange training during the installation for no additional charge if you’d like to learn how to operate your ATM.

Questions or inquiries? Contact us today!

How to Test Your ATM and Get ATM Fee Reimbursement

by Amber Iven

ATM fee reimbursement is important to independent ATM deployers (IADs) who want to regularly make test transactions on their machines to make sure that everything is functioning properly. We at ATMDepot.com highly recommend testing your ATM machine’s functionality upon its installation, but you will also want to make test transactions regularly to make sure there are no mistakes with cash dispensing.

However, we wouldn’t recommend paying hundreds of dollars a year in bank withdrawal fees. So what should you do to test your machine and how can you minimize or completely avoid paying bank withdrawal fees on your own ATMs? Keep reading to find out.

The Importance of Testing Your ATM

It’s important to test your ATM machine to make sure that it performs all of its functions and that it performs them quickly and accurately. It’s best to find out for yourself that something isn’t programmed quite right or that something mechanical isn’t running smoothly than waiting for a complaint from a dissatisfied customer or the location owner.

You only make money while you are in business. And you are only in business while your machine is working and processing transactions accurately. Especially if your machine dispenses more than one denomination, you want to be 100% sure that 10s and 20s are dispensed in the right quantities. Otherwise, you risk facing a number of customer complaints and journal requests when customers are shorted. Or worse, you risk losing money if your machine dispenses more than it should.

For these reasons, it’s important to test your ATM machine every time you reload it with cash. You’re better safe than sorry. But can you really justify hundreds of dollars a year in bank withdrawal fees?

Types of ATM Fees

You know that ATM machines charge a surcharge, or convenience, fee. That’s why you are in the ATM business to begin with. So when you make a test transaction on your own machine, you know that surcharge fee is going straight back into your account. So you aren’t losing any money there. But what about your bank fees?

Most banks offer free ATM services for their customers when they use machines that are in-network, or owned by that bank or its partners. Similarly, most banks charge withdrawal or transaction fees for out-of-network ATM services, meaning ATMs not owned by that bank. Here are some examples of ATM fees by bank.

Since you own your ATM independently, it is not operated by a financial institution and is therefore always out-of-network. So although you pay yourself your ATM’s surcharge fee when you make a test transaction, you could still face an out-of-network withdrawal fee from your bank.

Fortunately, many banks offer ATM fee reimbursement. Next are considerations you should make when choosing a bank and negotiating ATM fees.

How to Get ATM Fee Reimbursement

ATM fees are among the most commonly charged banking fees. And they add up quickly if you are making regular ATM withdrawals. ATM fee reimbursement refers to the method by which banks pay customers back for certain ATM fees they incur. All banks should have clearly defined policies and fee structures you need to be aware of to minimize and avoid these fees to save yourself a good chunk of change each year.

Did you know that you can call your financial institution’s customer service line and request ATM fee reimbursement? You can. However, you might run into some limitations.

No ATM Fee Reimbursement Benefits

First, you could be denied right off the bat, no ifs, ands, or buts. Maybe your bank does not offer ATM fee reimbursement, or maybe your particular account doesn’t qualify. If that’s the case, it might be time to look into switching to an account with certain benefits or opening an account with another bank from which you can test your ATM machines at no extra cost.

ATM Fee Reimbursement Benefits on a Case-by-Case Basis

Second, ATM reimbursement is up to your bank’s discretion. Their decision could depend on your circumstances, your business history with the bank, your volume of ATM withdrawal fees, etc.

Therefore, you could face some inconsistencies. If you get reimbursed once, don’t expect it every time. Alternatively, just because you are denied one time does not necessarily mean that you will always be denied. It doesn’t hurt to call, explain your situation, and ask for ATM fee reimbursement. But if you are making regular test transactions on your ATM machine, we recommend more efficient ways to seek reimbursement than relying on case-by-case decisions each month.

ATM Fee Reimbursement for Specific Banks or Account Types

Some banks offer ATM fee reimbursement as part of their account benefits. The specifications and limitations will differ from bank to bank, though. You might find an institution or an account that offers reimbursement for a set number or amount ($10, for example) of out-of-network ATM fees per month. You might find some that waive the fees altogether.

Most banks will waive out-of-network ATM fees for customers who keep large balances in higher-tier checking or savings accounts. Or reimbursement could depend on maintaining a minimum account balance.

We recommend finding a bank that offers accounts with ATM fee reimbursement benefits or a bank that waives the fees altogether. These banks will automatically credit your account for the fees at the end of the month or statement cycle which saves you time and energy having to regularly call and negotiate fee reimbursement with your bank.

Banks That Offer ATM Fee Reimbursement

Online banks are notorious for offering ATM fee reimbursement. That’s because most of these institutions do not maintain physical ATM locations which forces customers to use out-of-network ATMs and unavoidably incur fees.

ATM fee reimbursement is more common than you might think. It’s a way to retain customers who could opt for accounts with institutions that better suit their needs. Several banks offer some sort of reimbursement although some limitations may apply.

Here are some banks that offer ATM fee reimbursement benefits:

Alliant Credit Union

Offers $20 a month in ATM fee refunds when you use the Alliant Visa debit card. Your refund is deposited into your checking account at the end of each day that you’re charged ATM fees.

Ally Bank

Reimburses up to $10 a month in out-of-network ATM fees.

Aspiration

The Summit Account is a free online checking option (costs no monthly fee) that offers no-fee access to any ATM in the world. The company also reimburses all ATM fees you pay to other banks or operators on a monthly basis.

Axos Bank

Offers unlimited domestic ATM fee reimbursements for its standard Essential Checking, Rewards Checking, and Cashback Checking accounts. Its Golden Checking account for customers ages 55 and older offers up to $8 in ATM fee reimbursement each month.

BankFive

Caps its ATM fee reimbursement at $10 per statement cycle.

Charles Schwab Bank

The High Yield Investor Checking account offers customers unlimited ATM fee reimbursement.

E-Trade Financial Corporation

Offers free domestic ATM use.

Fidelity Investments

Also offers free domestic ATM use.

First Republic

Offers free ATM use around the world.

IncredibleBank

Automatically reimburses external ATM fees, though a minimum balance is required to avoid incurring a monthly fee.

LendingClub

Customers with either a Rewards Checking or Tailored Business Checking account receive unlimited ATM fee reimbursements.

Navy Federal Credit Union

Offers up to $10 in ATM fee rebates per statement cycle for its Free Easy Checking account on the condition that members either set up direct deposit or make at least 20 transactions each month. However, to qualify to open an account with Navy Federal Credit Union, you also need to be a member of the military or have a household connection to someone who is.

Needham Bank

Offers unlimited ATM fee reimbursement, both domestic and international with no minimum account balance requirements or monthly fees.

TD Bank

Customers with a Beyond Checking account can get unlimited out-of-network ATM fee reimbursements as long as they maintain a minimum balance of $2,500 in the account.

TIAA Bank

Customers can get reimbursed up to $15 in ATM fees each month without maintaining a minimum balance. Accounts that require a minimum average daily balance of $5,000, however, offer unlimited ATM fee reimbursement.

Conclusion

In addition to the many considerations you need to make when searching for the best banks as an IAD, you want to also think about ATM fee reimbursement options. A convenient, cost-effective checking account will allow you to test your ATM machines as often as necessary without incurring hundreds of dollars in fees for doing so. If you’d like to know more about ATM installation and training, click here or contact us today.