Blog: ATM Network Management: Why the Right Partner Matters

A new study of consumer attitudes found that 37% of millennials see the ATM as “the bank.” And no matter the demographic, the average consumer uses an ATM seven times per month. What do these numbers mean for your omnichannel strategy?

Downtime at the self-service terminal can result in missed interactions – and reduced consumer loyalty. If this channel isn’t a major factor in your drive to engage consumers more deeply and more often, you’re missing a big opportunity.

Unfortunately, one of the biggest trends I’m seeing right now in ATM network management is a bandwidth issue. At virtually every organization, employees are expected to do more and manage with less – all while raising the bar on consumer experiences. Regardless of their size, financial institutions (FIs) face a universal dilemma: They need to focus on their core business objectives, yet they’re allocating precious funds, time and resources to managing the growing complexities of their self-service operations.

The Cost of Chaos

What we tend to find when we begin a new partnership with a client is that their ATM network has grown organically, not necessarily in a strategic, structured way. As FIs have evolved and merged, so have their self-service networks. The top four banks in the U.S. today were 35 separate companies in 1990, and M&As are still occurring with regular frequency.

The result of such organic growth is a chaotic, disparate ecosystem of software releases, hardware platforms, change programs and failing processes. Legacy infrastructure is operating alongside newer hardware and software, usually in a multi-vendor environment. Risk management and compliance are ever present elephants in the room – they’re ongoing challenges that require consistent monitoring and modifications. Often we see organizations that don’t realize the extensive security challenges they’re really facing, because they don’t have a dedicated staff with expertise on the latest global threats.

Many different vendors may be engaging with these FIs in many different ways, with varying SLAs and widely different contracts. How much does that inefficiency cost? How is that outdated approach holding retail bankers back from focusing on their own consumers? And when will those security threats find a way to breach the measures in place?

Single-partner Simplicity

For FIs to remain competitive, ATM functionality is crucial, regardless of the location, manufacturer, network switch or software stack at the terminal: In an increasingly multi-vendor environment, capabilities that used to be “nice to have” – flexibility, support for advanced transactions, hardware-agnostic integration – are now a necessity. Islands of information will not be enough to meet modern consumer demands; it’s critical to engage with a partner that understands – and can work across – retail banking channels and with other software partners.

Our suite of solutions is tailored to deliver those capabilities. We offer clients completely agnostic ATM software platforms and applications designed to drive omnichannel orchestration, enable better communication and provide more robust monitoring across a multi-vendor fleet. As fully engaged partners to our clients, we untangle and streamline self-service management, whether the network is single- or multi-vendor. We drive customized solutions through a vendor-agnostic approach that:

• Frees our customers from the constraints of managing different software platforms on different terminals.
• Eliminates inconsistencies in user experiences.
• Drives efficiencies in ATM network management and control, and enhances performance.
• Encourages them to look at fleet operations in an entirely new way.

It’s a shift in thinking from “multi-vendor capabilities” to “single-partner simplicity,” and it’s a strategic approach that will become more critical as the partnership grows. A comprehensive multi-vendor engagement with Dieboldcan begin to streamline more than just ATM network management; as FIs realize the scale, coverage and performance benefits, the SLA can begin to encompass things like lock-smithing, enhanced security, sophisticated telemetry, cash-handling and CIT services, even extended asset utilization in the form of cash, hardware, software and/or facilities. With enabled IP connectivity, Diebold can provide remote monitoring and services that result in improved consumer interactivity, greater machine availability and tighter security.

As you can see from the extensive list of potential solutions, the right partner can be a safe, trusted advocate to an FI. It is easy to assume that a piece of software will bridge the omnichannel divide, but with the number of players, functions and opportunities to simplify, it is the partner that defines the better path. The journey to a transformed branch and self-service vision is neither simple, nor easy. The right partner can enhance consumer loyalty and service leadership.

Interested in finding out more about how Diebold’s end-to-end solutions can drive efficiencies and improve performance for your organization? Let’s start a conversation.