Free ATM placement services have been around for as long as the ATM business itself. Free ATM placements services are designed for high traffic locations that need a high volume, full-service ATM machine without any of the headaches of owning one.

Most Cases

In most cases, a high traffic location is offered a free turnkey ATM placement service at no charge. In return, the ATM distributor will provide the location with a percentage of the ATM surcharge revenue from each valid cash withdrawal from the ATM. The ATM distributor will be responsible for everything revolving around the ATM machine. They will pay for the ATM, ship the ATM, set up ATM processing and install the ATM, load cash into the ATM and then maintain the ATM for the life of the ATM placement. The location owner does absolutely nothing but cashes the checks when they arrive in the mail from the ATM distributor.

(Or direct deposit if you choose)

Free ATM placements

Free ATM placements are, in my mind, much better for the ATM Distributor than the location owner. If you think about it, if you have a great location, you will be making just a small portion of the money your ATM will earn, and it’s your store! For example, if your store had just three ATM users per day, that’s about 100 transactions per month. If you owned the ATM and had a $3.00 surcharge, you would earn about $300 bucks a month. If a Distributor places an ATM in your store and gives you $0.50 per transaction, you would only make $50 per month while the ATM Owner would walk away with $250! The ATM Owner will always make most of the money. It just stands to reason that if you own the store, you should also own the ATM. That way, whatever you charge you keep.

Are you thinking about buying or leasing an ATM machine to place in your business or as an additional source of income? Before you make your decision, weigh the pros and cons of both leasing and buying. You might find that leasing is a better option for the particular needs of your business. What kind of things do you need to consider? First of all, do you have the cash to purchase it outright? If so, do it. It will save you finance charges typically added on by the lease company. Is there any kind of warranty? Should you purchase an extended warranty plan? Who will coordinate the repairs? If you buy, you may be responsible for all future repairs. There is generally a warranty period on the ATM, but don’t take those things for granted. Make sure you understand your agreement before you buy. At First National, we handle all repairs from the moment of a problem. Remember, since we do not charge any processing fee, we only make money when your ATM is running!

What about leasing?

The same goes for leasing: make sure you understand the lease agreement before you sign off on it. Generally speaking, you will receive the same repair assistance if you lease the equipment or purchase it outright, but read your contract closely. Are there charges for late lease payments? You may need to use an automatic deduction from your checking account to be sure it is always paid on time.

Take a look at the price

Look at the total price before you get infatuated with the low monthly price of a lease agreement. Look at these examples. If you can buy an ATM machine outright for $2000, don’t be taken in by a $150 a month lease for 60 months. That would end up costing you an additional $7,000 more than it would have cost you if you would have bought the ATM outright. So, while $150 a month certainly sounds nicer than $2000, the lease will cost more in the long run. Not all ATM leases are the same, though, so you should evaluate your options carefully.

Discuss With Accountant

Talk to your accountant to see which would be a better deduction for your business. Do you need a monthly payment to claim as a business expense for your taxes next year? How much of the monthly lease payment can you deduct? Can you deduct more if you buy it outright? Your accountant can tell you if it is more beneficial for you to buy or lease an ATM machine and will also be able to outline a few more pros and cons related to ATM’s as business expenses.

Investigate before any purchase

Take a little time to investigate your options before you choose to either buy or lease an ATM machine. Making an educated decision now will mean you will likely be more satisfied with your choice months down the road. Don’t let a sales rep rush you into a decision. Remember, it’s his or her job to sell. Insist on taking your time, asking questions, reading information and talking with other customers about their experiences with the company from which you are considering either leasing an ATM or buying your ATM outright.

Why must ATM distributors be there for clients both before and after the sale? The answer is simple:

Good customer service – before AND after the sale – brings about repeat customers and referrals. And remember, a customer is a powerful person. If the customer has one bad experience, you can believe he or she will tell any and everyone who will listen about it. If you are trying to build a good business; bad experiences will kill it faster than anything else ever could.

Stay on top of customer service. It begins before the sale.

If you call, write or email about your interest in an ATM distribution program, make sure the company follows up as quickly as possible. If you ask questions, they should be answered. If they don’t know the correct answer, they should say so. There is nothing wrong with not knowing everything. As a matter of fact, you will probably trust the company more if they answer a question with an honest “I don’t know, but let me find out and get back with you by the end of the day.” If they give you a time limit, make sure they honor it. But if they can’t find the answer you need by the mentioned deadline, call back to inquire and make sure all your questions are answered. Just be honest, and you will get your business relationship with the ATM company off to a great start.

What To Do Next

Now that you have chosen an ATM company and bought your ATM product or services, the work does not stop. You must still work to keep your ATM customers satisfied, even if your company is small and you have to deal with a lot of other business issues. Keep in touch with the ATM company.

When it comes right down to it, they are the people you have to communicate with. They sold you the product. Usually, you can call a service representative personally if you ever have any trouble with customer service or repair departments for your ATM machine. Let them know that while you don’t anticipate any problems, you’ll be in touch if you do run into any such as in the case you need ATM parts and or an ATM sign. With that said, make sure the ATM company you choose follows up on your concerns and gets back to you in a timely manner. If you’ve been trying to reach someone from tech support but can’t seem to get through a busy switchboard, make sure someone takes your phone number and ask someone from tech support to give you a call. Even if it takes tech support a while to solve your problem, you will be impressed if you get results from them. This is how business relationships are built.

Growing Your Business

If you want to build your business, service both before and after the sale is of utmost importance. Don’t slack on either aspect. A satisfied customer is a long-term customer. When a satisfied customer tells other people about his or her great experience with you and your company, it’s better than any type of advertising you could ever invest in.

How much should it really cost for ATM processing transactions

What’s The Real Cost?

How much should it really cost for ATM processing? In a perfect world, it would cost nothing. However, ATM machines cost money. Without the charge for ATM processing, there would be no way to reimburse the people who are out the costs. And no one wants to be out the costs without some kind of return for it. However, you should try to find an equal price so that people will continue to use your machine and you will begin or continue to make a profit for your machine.

When you decide

When you decide to go into business or make some extra money with ATM processing, you should first decide if you want to own or rent. You should then consider any additional costs for owning and maintaining your own ATM machine. This should include any costs for periodic maintenance, time spent on the machine, and any costs that you will need to pay to any outside parties. The costs of owning and maintaining an ATM machine will vary from owner to owner. You just take into account the costs that you may incur.

Do The Math

After you figure out how much cost you will incur on a regular basis, you should decide on a possible scenario for how much your machine will be used. The first step in doing this is surveying the traffic around your machine. There is one thing to consider when you are choosing a location to put your ATM machine. One thing to make sure is that people will realize that your ATM machine is there. No one can use a machine that they don’t know exists. Make sure you place the ATM in a highly visible area near the front of the location. Never put an ATM in the back of a location even if you have great ATM signs.

The Right Location

If you are putting your ATM machine, such as a Genmega ATM, in a place that has a lot of traffic, especially foot traffic, the likelihood of people using your machine increases. Also, if there is a reason why people in the area around your machine would need extra money, the transactions are likely to increase. All of these factors are important because when more people use your machines, you can afford to charge them less.

Reasonable Pricing

After you figure out what reasonable pricing with the competition seems to be, see if you can meet or beat it. However, you still have to keep the charge high enough to make a profit. But if you charge less and more people come, you still have the potential to make more. This is the whole point of competitive pricing.

Compare

When you are pricing your transaction fees, you should compare your fee to the competition’s, especially if any other machines are in a close proximity. No one will use your machine if they are charged more at yours than at the one around the corner. However, even if yours is the only machine for miles and miles, you shouldn’t charge way more than other machines. People will then use your machine only in emergencies in that case.

The main point that you should remember when pricing your ATM machine’s processing transaction, is to charge enough to cover your routine costs and make a profit without going above the competition’s pricing. If you can’t do this, don’t buy one.

One of the first things you should realize before you dole out the cash to get an ATM business off the ground is that simply having the ATM machine isn’t going to do you a bit of good. The person who has a dozen ATM machines in the garage is no more in the ATM business than the person with no ATM machines at all. So what does it take to get an ATM business started?

Three most important rules

The three most important rules of real estate apply to the ATM business opportunity. It’s all about location, location, and (of course) location. If you have poor positioning for your ATMs, you’ll probably not do much better than if you had them in your garage.

* So the first step is not only to find the machines but to decide what you’re going to do with them once you have them. Some ATM manufacturing companies offer help finding locations, and some ATM franchise companies offer help finding the machines. Which way you start is merely a point of personal preference.

* If you choose a franchise, keep in mind that there are likely to be some franchise rules you’ll be expected to follow. The extent of these rules will depend on the franchise because there is no typical franchise contract. Each franchise parent company sets rules for themselves, and those decisions are up to the franchiser as long as they don’t violate any rules governing the use of ATM machines.

* Franchises do often offer one major benefit in the form of support. A franchise parent company may very well be able to train you in the management of your ATM business, down to bookkeeping and maintenance of machines.

* The reliability of your ATM machines will depend largely on your manufacturer – some are simply at the top of the game in this sector while others aren’t. We highly recommend Genmega ATM, Hyosung ATM, and Triton ATM. You may find that the cheapest source of ATM machines isn’t the best source. Here’s why reliability is such an important factor in your effort to start an ATM business.

* If a consumer is headed to an ATM machine, it’s probably because he or she needs cash. It may be for an impulse purchase or for an emergency car repair – but the fact remains that the person is looking for money. If your ATM machine isn’t working on that particular day (or worse, malfunctions mid-transaction), that person will probably be able to go to another ATM machine to get the cash they need. You’ve lost the profit from that particular transaction. But worse, you’ve probably lost future transactions because that person is going to remember your ATM as the one that didn’t work, and won’t even bother to stop there next time.

After Choosing Your ATM

After choosing the manufacturer and locations for your ATM business, you’ve still got some hurdles to clear. You’ll have to set up a routine of servicing machines (whether you do it yourself or hire it to be done). You need to have a regular maintenance program in place, and to have a plan for when problems occur.

Setting up an ATM business isn’t a process that’s going to be completed and off the ground in an hour or two, but just take a look at the number of successful ATM businesses in existence. This is an endeavor that’s likely to be well worth your time, effort and financial investment.

The words “cashless” and “ATM machines” simply don’t seem to belong in the same sentence. After all, what service could a cashless ATM possibly offer? Actually, cashless scrip ATM machines are becoming more widely accepted, and offer one of the most important things to the merchant – the potential for higher earnings. Take a look at the concept, how it works and how you can put it to work for you.

In Reality

In reality, the concept has nothing to do with not spending or receiving money, but with spending money without using cash or writing a check. Instead, the customer simply swipes a card and the transaction is completed. While it’s fairly common already to have credit and debit card terminals set up at checkout stands, one point to keep in mind is that these transactions come with a price. Typically, the merchant pays a set fee for each transaction.

No Transaction Fees?

So what if you could eliminate the transaction fee? What would it be worth to you? Before you answer, stop to consider how much that fee is currently costing you. If it’s a flat fee of fifty cents per transaction, for example, would it be worth fifty cents if that fee didn’t apply? And what if you could then use that transaction fee – in whatever amount you choose – to encourage the shopper to return? This is one of the benefits of cashless scrip ATM machines.

Are They Free

So are these ATM points free? Actually, the customer pays a convenience fee, just as they would if they used a traditional ATM machine. So where’s the advantage? When people are shopping, they’re typically not worrying about a dollar (or even two or three) that they’ll be charged for using an ATM machine. The same is typically true of the transactions on cashless scrip ATM machines.

Some Of The Benefits

In marketing, “soft benefits” is the term given to some benefit of shopping in a particular place. If you, as the merchant, can offer your transaction fee back to the customer, it might be just the slight incentive needed to encourage that customer to make a return visit. Even though the actual cash amount isn’t likely to be significant, you’re building goodwill – a feeling that will likely remain with the customer long past the moment when the last bit of wrapping paper is being crammed into the trash.

* Other benefits of cashless scrip ATM machines are evident in the environment. The customer will typically receive two receipts for the transaction, but other paper receipts are eliminated. The result is less need for paper and less paper to throw in the trash – both good ideas for the environment.

Faster and More Conversions

Finally, you can point out the ultimate convenience of this type of transaction. Checkouts are faster because your customers aren’t standing in line writing checks. Approval is almost instant and there’s no need to make a change. If you, as a merchant, are able to offer the very cutting edge of technology as a means to convenient shopping, your customers are going to remember you.

Have you been thinking about the potential income possibilities of ATM machines and thinking you’d like to get in on that action? Do you immediately follow that thought with the recognition that you can’t possibly afford to buy those machines outright? Take a look at HYOSUNG ATM machines, and then look at the company’s affordable lease-purchase options. You may find that you’re closer to being ready to start a lucrative ATM business than you thought.

Basic HYOSUNG ATM

You can choose from the very basic HYOSUNG ATM machines to the Hyosung 5000 with multi-media capabilities. This particular machine can meet the demands of today’s complicated transactions. For example, the 5000 can serve as a very basic ATM, completing cash transactions with a minimum of bother. But you may be missing out on a very important customer base by not offering check cashing. The 5000 can take care of those customers who need to cash specific kinds of checks as well.

Monitor Size

The wide-screen monitor can be used for advertising – another potential source of income. Or you can offer up short entertainment clips to play as your customers wait for their transactions to be completed. Think that’s pretty incredible? Your customers will too, especially when they find out they can purchase various tickets and even pay for travel arrangements, all through this one handy location.

Good Service

If you think service of your ATM machine is important, you’re right. Hyosung recognizes both that service is sometimes required and that you may prefer your own service technician over Hyosung service providers. If that’s the case, you can quickly order and track parts through the company’s website. Just choose the parts you need and place your order. If you wonder where the part is, when it was mailed or when it’s due to arrive at you, just go back to the website and check the status of the part. It’s all designed to help your business be as profitable as possible.

Increase ATM Network

If you’re looking to increase your ATM network overseas, Hyosung may very well have the answers you’re looking for. Take a minute to consider that Hyosung ATM machines are currently located in some thirty-eight countries, according to information from Hyosung.

Security Issues

Security is always an issue and Hyosung ATM machines have been at the cutting edge of technology for many years with security-minded machines. After creating the technology designed to deter would-be robbers, Hyosung moved right on to offer the first dial-up ATM available to the general public. These ATM machines are also very compact so that they’ll fit in the smallest imaginable space, all aimed at what the company calls “low cost, high reliability” technology. When you consider Hyosung ‘s commitment to developing new ideas, you can probably imagine yourself as part of this winning team.