Page 32 - GS221002

Education

NAC 2022: The ATM turers, presented eye-opening information about the future
of the ATM-kiosk business. They showcased new hardware,
reinvented software and services that will be available to us in the near
future.

Adding services to the ATM is always a good thing. It’s sim-
ilar to switching a merchant from a credit card machine or
cash register to a POS system. Some of the functions ATMs
now enable include dispensing cash, buying bitcoin/cryp-
tocurrency, doing cardless transactions, making donations
and buying gift cards.

Coming soon will be the sidecar, a small machine on the
side that can accept bills so ATM customers can pay a bill,
place a bet (in states where it is legal), cash a check, recycle
cash, break bills, and much more. The ATM is being rein-
vented before our eyes. ATMs are becoming financial ki-
osks.
By Allen Kopelman
Nationwide Payment Systems Much to see
he National ATM Council met in Hollywood, The NAC 2022 exhibit hall was packed with vendors in-
Fla., at the Hard Rock Hotel, and it was a jam- cluding ATM ISOs; equipment manufactures; software and
packed conference with educational information, security system companies; ATM repair and lock services;
T great speakers, presentations and exhibitors. wallet, cardless solution and cash providers; armored car
Being in the credit card business and also in the ATM busi- companies; and more.
ness since 2001, I have a distinct take on ATMs.
One compelling booth belonged to Jar Tracker, which has
My colleagues and I are primarily consultants who have a an affordable security device that can be installed into an
broad understanding of business, including what business- ATM to add extra protection in high-risk locations.
es need now and in the future. Most of the ATM operators
are not in the credit card business; most credit card guys An ATM combined with a Jukebox also caught my eye. A
don’t do ATMs. They are very different from one another joint venture between Legacy Coin-Operated Distributors
and not easy to understand. and Venco Business Solutions, the patent-pending Harmon-
ey music and money machine brings together a TouchTunes
I host the B2B Vault: The Payment Technology Podcast, and Fusion Jukebox and the Genmega Onyx-W ATM.
the focus is to provide educational information about pay-
ment technology to business owners. In each episode we Kiosks found in every manufacturer's booth showcased a
talk about how a product is good for consumers and good host of new services coming to the ATM soon. Bitcoin was
for business owners. In the discussions, we try to explain also popular. Several companies displayed options for add-
things, such as the ATM business, in a way people can un- ing bitcoin to your current ATM, as well as redeeming bit-
derstand without getting overly technical. coin at ATMs. Sidecars and free-standing ATM-kiosks were
also on display.
A strong start
Another development I noticed was companies offering
NAC 2022 showcased how ATMs are morphing into kiosks ATM loading services. With this, you place an ATM at a
that will provide a host of new services for consumers to location and a company provides an armored car service to
access. As banks are closing branches, the need for full- load the machine for you.
service ATM-kiosks is critical, especially in impoverished
communities where the ATM and the corner store often In addition, companies talked about remote ATM manage-
serve as the closest thing to a bank. ment or remote ATM monitoring. This is a time-saving tool,
as you can monitor your ATM’s activity in real time using
The conference began with Bruce Renard, president of a wireless box, as well as perform remote maintenance ac-
NAC, welcoming the huge crowd and talking about NAC’s tivities without having to drive to the machine. With the
mission to help the ATM deployment community have a elevated price of gas, this also helps the budget. You can
voice in Washington, D.C., deal with legal and banking is- also update the ATM software with this service and add
sues, and more. additional services to the ATM easily.

In the next conference segment, Hyosung, Triton/ATM Gu- I also conversed with Pocketbook CEO Bryan Crumpler,
rus and Genmega, the three top ATM and kiosk manufac- who explained that consumers can download the pocket-

32