Automated teller machine
An automated teller machine (ATM) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, funds transfers, balance inquiries or account information inquiries, at any time and without the need for direct interaction with bank staff.
"Bancomat" redirects here. For Italian interbank network, see Bancomat (interbank network).
ATMs are known by a variety of names, including automatic teller machines (ATM) in the United States[1][2][3] (sometimes redundantly as "ATM machine"). In Canada, the term automated banking machine (ABM) is also used,[4][5] although ATM is also very commonly used in Canada, with many Canadian organizations using ATM over ABM.[6][7][8] In British English, the terms cashpoint, cash machine and hole in the wall are most widely used.[9] Other terms include any time money, cashline, tyme machine, cash dispenser, cash corner, bankomat, or bancomat. ATMs that are not operated by a financial institution are known as "white-label" ATMs.
Using an ATM, customers can access their bank deposit or credit accounts in order to make a variety of financial transactions, most notably cash withdrawals and balance checking, as well as transferring credit to and from mobile phones. ATMs can also be used to withdraw cash in a foreign country. If the currency being withdrawn from the ATM is different from that in which the bank account is denominated, the money will be converted at the financial institution's exchange rate.[10] Customers are typically identified by inserting a plastic ATM card (or some other acceptable payment card) into the ATM, with authentication being by the customer entering a personal identification number (PIN), which must match the PIN stored in the chip on the card (if the card is so equipped), or in the issuing financial institution's database.
According to the ATM Industry Association (ATMIA), as of 2015, there were close to 3.5 million ATMs installed worldwide.[11][12] However, the use of ATMs is gradually declining with the increase in cashless payment systems.[13]
An ATM is typically made up of the following devices:
Due to heavier computing demands and the falling price of personal computer–like architectures, ATMs have moved away from custom hardware architectures using microcontrollers or application-specific integrated circuits and have adopted the hardware architecture of a personal computer, such as USB connections for peripherals, Ethernet and IP communications, and use personal computer operating systems.
Business owners often lease ATMs from service providers. However, based on the economies of scale, the price of equipment has dropped to the point where many business owners are simply paying for ATMs using a credit card.
New ADA voice and text-to-speech guidelines imposed in 2010, but required by March 2012[73] have forced many ATM owners to either upgrade non-compliant machines or dispose them if they are not upgradable, and purchase new compliant equipment. This has created an avenue for hackers and thieves to obtain ATM hardware at junkyards from improperly disposed decommissioned machines.[74]
The vault of an ATM is within the footprint of the device itself and is where items of value are kept. Scrip cash dispensers, which print a receipt or scrip instead of cash, do not incorporate a vault.
Mechanisms found inside the vault may include:
ATM vaults are supplied by manufacturers in several grades. Factors influencing vault grade selection include cost, weight, regulatory requirements, ATM type, operator risk avoidance practices and internal volume requirements.[75] Industry standard vault configurations include Underwriters Laboratories UL-291 "Business Hours" and Level 1 Safes,[76] RAL TL-30 derivatives,[77] and CEN EN 1143-1 - CEN III and CEN IV.[78][79]
ATM manufacturers recommend that a vault be attached to the floor to prevent theft,[80] though there is a record of a theft conducted by tunnelling into an ATM floor.[81]
Impact on labor[edit]
The number of tellers in the United States increased from approximately 300,000 in 1970 to approximately 600,000 in 2010. A contributing factor may have been the introduction of automated teller machines. ATMs allow a branch to operate with fewer tellers, making it more economical for banks to open more branches, necessitating more tellers to staff those additional branches. Further automation and online banking, however, may reverse this increase resulting in a trend toward fewer bank teller positions. [3][86]
ATMs were originally developed as cash dispensers, and have evolved to provide many other bank-related functions:
In some countries, especially those which benefit from a fully integrated cross-bank network (e.g.: Multibanco in Portugal), ATMs include many functions that are not directly related to the management of one's own bank account, such as:
Increasingly, banks are seeking to use the ATM as a sales device to deliver pre approved loans and targeted advertising using products such as ITM (the Intelligent Teller Machine) from Aptra Relate from NCR.[115] ATMs can also act as an advertising channel for other companies.[116]*
However, several different ATM technologies have not yet reached worldwide acceptance, such as:
Videoconferencing teller machines are currently referred to as Interactive Teller Machines. Benton Smith writes in the Idaho Business Review, "The software that allows interactive teller machines to function was created by a Salt Lake City-based company called uGenius, a producer of video banking software. NCR, a leading manufacturer of ATMs, acquired uGenius in 2013 and married its own ATM hardware with uGenius' video software."[127]
Related devices[edit]
A talking ATM is a type of ATM that provides audible instructions so that people who cannot read a screen can independently use the machine, therefore effectively eliminating the need for assistance from an external, potentially malevolent source. All audible information is delivered privately through a standard headphone jack on the face of the machine. Alternatively, some banks such as the Nordea and Swedbank use a built-in external speaker which may be invoked by pressing the talk button on the keypad.[150] Information is delivered to the customer either through pre-recorded sound files or via text-to-speech speech synthesis.
A postal interactive kiosk may share many components of an ATM (including a vault), but it only dispenses items related to postage.[151][152]
A scrip cash dispenser or cashless ATM may have many components in common with an ATM, but it lacks the ability to dispense physical cash and consequently requires no vault. Instead, the customer requests a withdrawal transaction from the machine, which prints a receipt or scrip. The customer then takes this receipt to a nearby sales clerk, who then exchanges it for cash from the till.[153]
A teller assist unit (TAU) is distinct in that it is designed to be operated solely by trained personnel and not by the general public, does integrate directly into interbank networks, and usually is controlled by a computer that is not directly integrated into the overall construction of the unit.
A Web ATM is an online interface for ATM card banking that uses a smart card reader. All the usual ATM functions are available, except for withdrawing cash. Most banks in Taiwan provide these online services.[154][155]
