Tag Archive for: automatic teller machines

[Infographic] Bitcoin Business vs. ATM Business: Fees Explained Simply

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Bitcoin. Who hasn’t heard of it? News of this new form of digital currency is sweeping the nation. Every day it seems we hear of someone else making lots of money from blockchain in the Bitcoin Business. Needless to say, it keeps us interested. But, there’s been a pretty big downfall to investing in the currency lately. Transaction fees are becoming quite a problem. In December 2017, a man moving $25 of Bitcoin paid a $16 fee to do so. According to CNBC, people are paying $28 on average to make Bitcoin transactions. The average transaction fee at an ATM machine is currently around $4. Both fees have been increasing, but Bitcoin’s transaction fee is doing so at a significantly higher rate.

What is Bitcoin?

In its simplest terms, Bitcoin is a digital currency. A cryptocurrency. Created in 2009 by anonymous user Satoshi Nakamoto, the goal was to create a decentralized electronic cash system. Decentralization is one of Bitcoin’s most important characteristics. This means that no single institution controls the bitcoin network. This puts people that don’t like institutions to have control of their money at ease. Another defining difference between common currencies and Bitcoin is pseudonymity. The system does not need to know the identity of any parties involved when Bitcoin is transacted. This anonymity attracts illegal activity which takes up almost half of Bitcoin transactions at the moment.

What is Bitcoin Infographic

Source: http://mompreneurasia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/btc-1024×690.jpg

Transaction Fees in the Bitcoin Business

With so many success stories in the media, people are rushing to enter the cryptocurrency business. Transaction fees are usually the first and most visible cost that everyone in the network will experience. With more users joining in, fees are increasing. According to the graph below, transaction fees for Bitcoin in October 2017 total over 22 million dollars. The average transaction fee around that time: around $60.00. The biggest pain point most people in the network have is how much the fees are fluctuating. If you enter the Bitcoin business, it is in your best interest to check www.cryptofees.net daily, or a similar site, to find out the current average transaction fee. The constant variations and shifts keep Bitcoin miners on their toes.

Bitcoin Transaction Fees - Graphic

source: https://web.archive.org/web/20181020203539/https://cryptovoices.com/network-transaction-fees/ (2018)

ATM Business Transaction Fees

One of the most common fees we encounter every day has been rising as well. ATM surcharges have reached an all-time high. CNBC reports Pittsburgh has the highest current average at $5.19 while San Francisco has one of the lowest at $3.90. The slowly increasing fee ensures Independent ATM Deployers continue to make a good amount of passive income. As averages continue to rise, remember to update your ATM surcharges to ensure you make more money.

Interested in learning more about the ATM Business? You’re in the right place. Don’t leave this page without getting the information you need. Download our FREE ATM Business Guide by clicking the link below.

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ATM Fees Increasing Over Time

source: http://time.com/money/4966816/atm-fees-all-time-high/

TX Fees vs. Surcharge

Although ATM surcharges have been increasing, the fee doesn’t fluctuate as fast as Bitcoin transaction fees. The average annual increase, according to Bankrate 2017, has been 4.7% over the past 19 years. Bitcoin transaction fees are different for each transaction. On this day, the minimum Bitcoin transaction fee charged is recorded at 0.0963%, however, the largest fee recorded is 29.3309%. That’s right. Someone paid $43.00 to send $103.61. Good thing we don’t have to pay a percentage to withdraw money from an ATM.

The average ATM surcharge has been increasing lately, but it’ll be a while before it’s equal to that of Bitcoin. Most people are wondering whether getting into the Bitcoin business would be beneficial. The answer is … probably. If you’re wondering whether getting into the ATM business is profitable, the answer is yes. IADs are racking up on these surcharges that happen to increase each year. You may have to check daily what you’ll pay to transfer Bitcoin, but surcharges don’t usually change on a daily basis. The ATM business is a lot more secure and reliable, however, the Bitcoin business is definitely booming. We’ve created this infographic to help illustrate the difference between bitcoin fees and ATM surcharges.

 

Bitcoin Business vs ATM Business Fees

[Infographic] The Bitcoin Business vs The ATM Business Fees

How to Profit from the ATM Business - Free Guide

 

 

Smart ATMs

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How Smart is An ATM?

How Smart is An ATM

Thanks to digital technology, automatic teller machines, like so many gadgets we use in our daily lives, are getting smarter all the time. A few years ago, the only relationship between ATMs and smartphones was the fact that you could use a phone app to locate the nearest ATM. Now, however, smartphone apps in many instances are replacing ATM cards altogether.

Consider, for example, the ATM program that the self-service software company NCR has introduced recently. ATM users who have smartphones with cameras can approach an ATM and complete the following process:

  • Activate their NCR app
  • Enter their PIN number on their phone
  • Choose the account from which they want to withdraw money and the dollar amount of that withdrawal
  • Scan the QR code that the ATM screen displays

After doing these things, the money comes out and a receipt is sent directly to the smartphone. NCR says that this withdrawal should take a customer about ten seconds. It helps people avoid the threat of skimming, and takes away the fear that they might lose their ATM card or have it stolen.

Diebold, an Ohio-based company that also specializes in self-service systems, has likewise found a way to combine smartphones and ATMs to eliminate the need for an ATM card. Their program works in a way similar to NCR’s:

  • An ATM user scans the QR card on a smartphone.
  • An ATM screen appears on the phone, allowing that person to choose a dollar amount to withdraw.
  • A code appears, which the customer types on the screen of the ATM.

The cash is dispensed, and transactions are complete when customers receive the electronic receipt on their phones. Note that customers receive different codes every time they use this system; as soon as a transaction has gone through, that code is voided. This system not only makes ATM transactions more convenient for customers, but it benefits banks as well, in that it uses a cloud server rather than a bank’s computer. As a result, banks don’t need to use as much power on any given day. Further, banks do not have to pay for paper and printer ink to print out receipts.

The Diebold system also allows people to use their smartphones to “wire” money to others. Let’s say your son is on a spring break trip and loses his wallet and all his cash, and he has no bank account from which to withdraw money. All you have to do under such circumstances is use your ATM app to select an amount of money to withdraw. You will receive a code which you can send to your son’s smartphone. He can then go to an ATM, enter that code and withdraw the amount of cash you selected. Again, this code is a one-time-only code.

It may surprise you to learn that banks generally do not have to do much work in order to make their ATMs compatible with smartphones. In most cases, all a bank must do is update its ATM software and add a barcode scanner to each machine.

In the future, automatic teller machines might become even more interactive. The aforementioned company NCR is teaming up with a company headquartered in Utah called uGenius Technology to develop ATMs with video screens. These screens allow customers  interact with bank tellers; the tellers are on hand to guide ATM customers through complicated transactions – transactions which, in the past, usually required speaking with a real live teller at a bank. If this technology catches on, it might mean that bank branches will not need to hire as many tellers, as a smaller number of tellers will work in central locations and help customers remotely.

 

The Origins of the ATM Part 2

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When Did the ATM come to the United States

When Did the ATM come to the United States?

When our last post ended, the automatic teller machine had made its successful premiere in the United Kingdom. Across the Atlantic Ocean, however, Americans were still largely unaware that this kind of technology could even exist. However, Don Wetzel, the Vice President of Product Planning at the now-defunct Texas technology firm Docutel, was about to change that.

In 1968, Don Wetzel was standing inside a bank in Dallas, waiting in line, imagining what life would be like if people did not have to wait in lines in banks. Then, all of a sudden, he could see it in his mind: the automatic teller machine.

Wetzel’s employer provided five million dollars to develop this idea. Two engineers at the company, Tom Barnes and George Chastain, worked with Wetzel to develop the product. The ATM was not such a great leap for Docutel, though, as it had worked extensively on creating automatic luggage transportation systems for airports.

The ATM prototype was finished about a year later, and Wetzel, Chastain and Barnes received the patent for this device in 1973. Several banks claim to have been the first to install this machine, but Wetzel has stated that the distinction belongs to a Chemical Bank branch in Rockville Centre, New York. Chemical Bank advertised the debut of this machine in a clever way. It announced in ads that it would open at nine a.m. on September 2, 1969, and that it would “never close again.”

Chemical Bank called its ATM the Docuteller. The machine could only dispense cash, and it was not connected to the bank’s network of computers. Unfortunately, the bank installed the machine outside. The machine was not waterproof. The bank tried to protect it from rainwater by setting up a canopy. The canopy was too high. The soaked machine suffered massive damage.

ATMs began sprouting up all over the place. That’s not to say there weren’t some snags in those early years, though. Just imagine the following issues:

  • For some banks, the cost of the initial ATMs was prohibitively high.
  • Many banks would only allow their best customers – those with the most sterling financial histories and records – to touch these machines.
  • Until 1972, a bank customer could not use an ATM unless he or she had a credit card.
  • Some customers were puzzled by the ATM at first. In Texas, an ATM refused to give money to a certain bank customer. That customer got so mad he pulled out a gun and shot the machine. Luckily, it was bulletproof.

Little by little, the ATM improved. Docutel put out a total ATM in 1971, one that could transfer money from one account to another, send money to credit card accounts, and so on. Wetzel, Chastain and Barnes also got to work on ATM cards equipped with magnetic strips. These strips proved so effective that they became standard on credit cards.

In 1995, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History officially designated Don Wetzel the inventor of the ATM, despite several people having made that claim over the years. In many ways, it’s astonishing to think about what a contribution Wetzel made to society. Today, there are more than 1.8 million automatic teller machines in existence. That number increases constantly. In fact, about once every five minutes a new ATM opens for business. The average American uses his or her ATM card between six and eight times every single month.

Of course, when you consider these statistics, you might reflect on that poor, solitary ATM in Rockville Centre, New York, standing outside, getting wet in the rain.

Outrageous ATM Glitches

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Can ATM glitches affect you?

Outrageous ATM Glitches

You can breathe a sigh of relief to know that the chance of something going wrong when you use an automatic teller machine is very small. But even though ATM glitches rarely happen, when they do occur they can be significant. In fact, some recent ATM issues might leave you shaking your head, and might leave bank managers trembling in fear.

Types of Outrageous ATM Glitches

When banks adopt new technologies, ATM problems sometimes result. For instance:

  • June 19, 2012, a computer glitch caused by a change in company software prevented the Royal Bank of Scotland from making any payments to its customers, including payments through ATM’s. Even though the offending glitch was fixed almost right away, it spurred a chain reaction of events that led to inoperable ATM’s, among many other banking issues. These problems lasted for days and affected millions of people.
  • Bank of America, which operates the U.S.’s largest network of automatic teller machines, also had a recent brush with ATM glitches caused by new technology. In the mid-2000’s, Bank of America began introducing ATM’s with scanning systems; these machines scan checks and deposit them into accounts. However, a number of these new devices refused to recognize certain checks, or did not follow through with the process of actually depositing the value of a check into a customer’s account. In a few isolated incidents, the machines completely shredded customers’ debit cards. No long-term damage was done, however; Bank of America took care of everyone who registered a complaint about these machines. And the vast majority of Bank of America’s new ATM’s worked without a hitch. Still, these incidents serve as reminders that bank customers always need to examine their bank statements to make sure they have the correct amount of money in their various accounts.

Natural disasters and mass panic can also bring about ATM glitches. In the aftermath of the terrible Japanese tsunami of 2011, thousands of ATM’s were out of order for hours. For at least one bank, Mizuho, the malfunctioning ATM’s were caused by an enormous uptick of customers trying to withdraw money from these machines.

On the other hand, sometimes ATM’s please customers too much. In 2009, Ronald Page, a retired autoworker in Detroit, found that a broken ATM in his home city was allowing him to take out all the money he wanted. So he took out $1.5 million, and he brought that cash to several casinos. He lost the entire amount. Later, prosecutors charged him with theft, and sought to have him jailed for 15 months. The lesson here: unlike in the board game Monopoly, when it comes to ATM’s in real life, there’s no such thing as an “error in your favor.” Therefore, if an ATM gives you more money than you know you have in your account, or if you go up to an ATM and find someone else’s money lying around, report the issue to a bank manager with the extra cash in hand. It’s not worth going jail over a mistake that wasn’t even yours to begin with.

Perhaps the most common “glitch” that occurs at ATM’s isn’t really a glitch at all. It’s called the “cash retract.” If you order a certain amount of cash from an ATM, but you don’t take that cash out right away, then that money will shoot back inside the ATM after 30 seconds. Imagine this scenario: you order $50 in cash from an ATM inside a bank. But just as the money is coming out, your young child runs away from you, and you have to chase her throughout the bank to retrieve her. You return more than 35 seconds later only to find your $50 is not there – it’s returned to the cash dispenser inside the machine. Yet it’s likely you’ll still have that $50 deducted from your account. What you should do in such a situation is let a bank employee know about it right away, so you can be sure that you’ll be reimbursed.

In fact, that really is an important message to repeat and to end on: whenever you are the victim of any kind of ATM glitch, notify your bank immediately, as doing so offers you the best chance of getting fully and promptly compensated.