Is it Time to Upgrade the ATM Experience?

September 30, 2019 Co-op Solutions

ATM Experience

Nearly a third of Americans visit the ATM at least once a week.1 Even after 50 years, ATMs continue to be an important self-service channel between credit unions and members looking to deposit checks, withdraw cash or check their balance. 

Research from Mercator Advisory Group shows that while members value the convenience of ATM locations and surcharge-free access the most when it comes to ATMs (both of which they receive as part of the CO-OP ATM network), as technology evolves they are wanting more from the ATM experience.2

At the same time, an important industry mandate was passed on January 14th, 20202 that significantly impacted the world of ATMs. Credit unions that have not upgraded their ATMs to the Windows 10 operating system will no longer have access to security updates, security patches, non-security hotfixes, free or paid support options and online technical content updates supported by Microsoft. Windows 10 isn’t just about security and PCI-compliance; the upgrade is designed to equip your ATMs to support the features your members expect and to respond to the video- and app-based platforms of the future.

 

How Elevations CU Leveraged the Windows 10 Update to Enhance the Member Experience

For Colorado-based Elevations Credit Union, upgrading to Windows 10 was an opportunity to transform the look-and-feel of their entire ATM fleet – and as their ATM terminal driving partner, CO-OP supported them with the resources, guidance and personalized features they needed.

Watch Gary Kindle, SVP of Operations at Elevations Credit Union, describe how the personalization features offered by CO-OP helped deliver a better experience to Elevations members:

Delivering the Features Members Want

When it comes to experience, often it’s the little features and enhancements that members appreciate. In a 2018 Mercator survey, members overwhelmingly indicated that having flexibility around cash withdrawals (with options like choosing bill denominations and increased withdrawal limits) was important to their ATM experience.2 Other popular features, particularly among travelling members, include the ability to withdraw cash in multiple currencies and being able to set language preferences.

According to Gary Kindle, bundling some of the personalization features offered by CO-OP into their Windows 10 upgrade was highly impactful with their members:3

“We added CO-OP’s bill mix option solution, which gives users the ability to choose denominations on cash withdrawals, something our analytics tells us members are really appreciating. We’re filling up our $5 and $10 cassette bills regularly. In the future, we plan to take advantage of the screen personalization that will display members’ names, recall their pre-loaded preferences and even behave as the member has “trained” it to in the past.”

 

Protecting Your ATMs Against Fraud

Another important area to focus on as you upgrade your ATMs is security. In a survey by the ATM Industry Association, 58 percent of respondents reported an increase of ATM fraud incidents and physical ATM security breaches over the last year.4

Enhancements like cardless cash access can help prevent physical ATM fraud attempts like card skimming while configuring your ATMs to return members’ debit cards before dispensing cash (“card-before-cash”) can help curb card theft.

But what about the hidden security threats you don’t see at the ATM? FICO found that the number of compromises of ATMs and merchant devices rose by 8% last year as fraudsters are increasingly looking for security vulnerabilities that come with old or outdated operation systems.5 Windows 10 will equip ATMs to support advanced fraud mitigation technology such as biometric scanning, multi-factor authentication and better encryption.

“Our migration to EMV chip card acceptance was a necessary undertaking, and now we are taking fraud prevention to the next level with Windows security features,” added Kindle. “My main piece of advice to colleagues just getting started with the conversion is to involve your physical and information security teams in the process early and often.”

 

Upgrading Your ATMs

Upgrading your ATMs with the latest enhancements and features your members want can be a gateway to better member engagement and loyalty – and CO-OP is here to assist. Learn more about CO-OP’s ATM Terminal Driving Solutions to help transform the ATM experience for your members.

 

Sources:

  1. ATM Marketplace, “Introducing: ATM Future Trends”
  2. Mercator Advisory Group, “2018 U.S. ATM Benchmark Report”
  3. Credit Union Times, “How Elevations CU Leveraged the Windows 10 Update…”
  4. Credit Union Times, “ATM Attacks & Fraud Up, Survey Reports”
  5. FICO, “10 Percent More Debit Cards Were Comprised in U.S. Last Year”

The original article Is it Time to Upgrade the ATM Experience? can be found on Insight Vault.

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