The recent ATMIA U.S. conference inScottsdale, Ariz. was a well-organized and well-attended event thatoffered a glimpse into the future of ATMs and other self-servicechannels in banking.
Various presentations touched on everything from regulatory issuesto promising new products and technologies, and there was somethingfor everyone, from financial institutions, independent deployers,manufacturers, and managed services and consulting partners.
The depth and breadth of discussions about cross-channelopportunities between ATMs and other channels was impressive,particularly in regard to mobile banking and mobility in general.ATMs have certainly evolved beyond simple yet effective cashwithdrawal machines to viable replacements for many – and in somecases most – teller transactions.
This comes at an important time for financial institutions inparticular, as reductions in revenues and profitability havestrained resources for financial institutions of all sizes.Consequently, many financial institutions are in the process ofreducing the number of branches in their networks, leaving ATMs andother self-service channels to take up the slack.
EMV was a hot topic at the conference, both for timeframes forliability shifts by MasterCard and Visa as well as what to expectas the U.S. moves toward EMV at ATMs and POS devices. There iscertainly much to be discussed, planned, and implemented over thenext few months (and years).
Also discussed was the possibility of expansion and extension ofATMs into such areas into targeted advertising, one-on-onemarketing, prepaid cards, transit and lottery tickets, andintegration with other channels and devices.
It is certainly an exciting time for ATMs, and to paraphrase the’80s song by Timbuk3, the future’s so bright, we’ve got to wearshades.
