Traditional brick and mortar bank branches are disappearing from the high street at an alarming speed as financial institutions focus increasingly on digitising their banking interaction. However, despite a smaller branch footprint and the desire for more customer reach through apps, devices and web transactions, they also recognise the ongoing requirement for their customers to still withdraw and deposit cash.
The challenge of access to cash in a digital world
Whilst prioritising their digital strategy, financial institutions are faced with the challenge of expending time, money and staff resources to run and manage their ATM estate, which is fundamentally not their specialism. As branches close and banks have fewer remote estates, they have fewer ATM estates too, so it’s no longer cost effective to manage them internally.
There is no getting away from the fact that the use of cash is decreasing, and therefore ATM use is also decreasing. It’s difficult for banks to make a viable investment case into a market that is naturally declining. The cost of running ATMs on a cost-by-cost basis increases because they do not have the economies of scale and competitive service fees.
Historically, financial institutions would have gone to several providers, whether it be a hardware manufacturer, software supplier or a cash in transit business. That equates to large capital investments to supply new ATM hardware.
NoteMachine offers end-to-end managed services
With extensive operational systems and processing platforms, NoteMachine’s infrastructure can offer an end-to-end solution for banks: from processing the transactions, all the way through to ATM hardware provisions and servicing the ATMs.
Out of the 55-60,000 ATMs currently in the UK, NoteMachine owns 10,000 of them: that means they supply around 20% of the cash dispensed from all ATMs. Financial institutions can benefit from the cost efficiencies that NoteMachine drives out of their existing estate with regards to their own estate.
Transaction processing platform
The functionality-rich processing platform drives NoteMachine’s ATM estate throughout Europe, handling over £25 billion in cash transactions annually. It is a scalable, secure, multi-vendor solution that significantly increases the efficiency of processing financial transactions in-house.
NoteMachine’s proprietary ATM management software offers flexible reporting, including real-time transaction data and ATM status. It can also provide 24/7 monitoring of live events and transaction data to check for abnormal transactions, and can remotely shut down ATMs too if necessary.
ATM hardware provisions
NoteMachine enables financial institutions to extend the asset life of their remote ATMs by servicing the equipment for longer than its intended use. By producing fully-customisable and comprehensively-tested ATMs for a fraction of the cost of a new machine – as well as a spare parts service, sourced from around the globe – NoteMachine can keep ATM assets working even after the manufacturers have stopped support, therefore avoiding obsolescence and costly replacements.
ATM networks are now ageing and require upgrades or capital investment from the banks. NoteMachine is uniquely positioned to offer an attractive alternative to the traditional hardware manufacturers, such as NCR Global and Diebold Nixdorf, who tell financial institutions that they need to upgrade their equipment once it is officially end of life. NoteMachine helps to reduce the ongoing outlay with regard to running costs and overheads, so financial institutions have more capital to invest in digital services.
Compliance issues resolved
NoteMachine can also take banks existing assets onto their own infrastructure, meaning that banks have less regulatory pressure to adhere to with regard to their internal compliance and governance. For example, financial institutions may be faced with an expensive upgrade path if they dictate that every piece of software should sit on the Windows platform, yet ATM machines don’t need to adhere to this. By extending the life of the asset, as well as providing all the functionality at a bespoke level that banks would normally manage internally, NoteMachine can help banks reduce unnecessary investment and save on internal resources.
A trusted and reliable partner
As the managed services partner of choice for financial institutions like Virgin Money, The Co-operative Bank, YBS and Metro Bank, NoteMachine has built their reputation on results, helpings banks to extend the life of their assets. Whether offering large-scale ATM hardware provisions or managing cash deposits via the transaction processing platform, NoteMachine supports financial institutions to drive business growth.
About NoteMachine
Founded in 1978, NoteMachine is part of The Brink’s Company, a global leader in total cash management, secure logistics and payment solutions. NoteMachine has one of the largest cash machine networks across the UK and is one of the leading ATM businesses in Europe. With over 9,500 cash machines in operation, NoteMachine processes almost 30 million ATM transactions every month.