Most people getting into the business want to know how much capital they need to get into the ATM business. The ATM business is a very inexpensive business to get into. With an ATM business, you need no employees or a storefront. It requires a very low start up cost. Your investment into the ATM machine can be paid back in less than six months. You can manage your ATM business from home at your own schedule. You may only have to go to the location of the ATM machine once or twice a month depending on usage and amount of money stocked in the machine! You can also own an ATM business, while still working a part-time or full-time job since it requires so little time.
1) Secure the capital
You can get started into the ATM business for a very low cost. For as little as $1,999, you can purchase your first machine. You can stock the machine with as little as $500 or as much as $10,000+. Most customers stock their ATM machines with between $1,000-3,000. Therefore, you can get started with your first ATM machine for under $3,000. THERE ARE NO FRANCHISE FEES! You can pay off your ATM machine in the first six months or less, and everything from then on is a profit. ATM machines can last as long as 7-8 years or more, allowing you to be collecting money off of the ATM for many years. At ATM Money Machine we suggest you start with one or two machines, and build your ATM business up from there. You can gain a good understanding of the ATM machines and how they work, and then expand your business!
Check out: Financing Companies.
2) Find the Right Location(s)
Your first and most important step when getting into the ATM business is finding your location. Many people ask, do I have to own the business to place an ATM machine there? You do not! All you have to do is approach the business owner and see if they’re interested in having an ATM machine inside their business. Some reasons why a business owner would like a machine in their business is to lower their credit card costs, see more cash being spent, as well as to attract customers into their business just by having an ATM machine on premises. They have no responsibility of the ATM, yet get to reap all of the benefits! With credit card costs being so high, most business owners would rather see cash being spent. By having an ATM machine on premises, they will see cash being spent rather than having to take plastic! Therefore, they will see lower credit card costs and more cash spending.
Check out: ATM Locators, and Location Lists.
HIGH TRAFFIC LOCATIONS
- Coffee Shops
- Cash only Restaurants (small)
- Convenience Stores
- Gas Stations
- Truck Stops
- Barber Shops
- Sports Bars/ Pubs
- Check Cashing stores
- Hotels/Motels
- Internet Cafes
- Laundromats
- Nail and Beauty Salons
- Pharmacies
- Cannabis Dispensaries
- Quick Loans Stores
- Tabacco/Vape Stores
Many people ask what type of location will do well? There’s no specific location that will do well, rather the foot traffic is the main aspect to look at when trying to find a location. Anywhere from 4-6% of people walking through the door each day will use the machine. Therefore, as an average, if there are 100 people walking through the door, that machine will get 5 uses a day.
You want to find a business that averages 200+ people a day. If the business sees 200 people a day, you’re looking at about 10 uses a day (300 a month) and if you’re charging the national average surcharge amount of $2.66, that’s a $798 profit each month!
ATM Placement Locators
ATM Placement Locators will find Business locations willing to place ATM Machines in their establishment for free or a commission fee. Tell the ATM Locator you want high traffic businesses with over 100 in foot traffic per day, or over 200 employees that could be using the machine each day.
(Also see ATM Machine Placement Locators in Suppliers listings).
3) Commissions Paid
When placing an ATM machine in a business, some owners of the business would like a part of the surcharge. Being that the business owner sees all the benefits of having the machine there (more cash being spent, lower credit card costs, increased cash spending, etc) you have some room to negotiate to ensure you get the lowest possible rate. Some business owners simply want the machine there, and don’t want any of the commission. At ATMMM we suggest you pay based on a sliding scale.
For example, for 0-200 transactions, pay them .25 cents. For 201-400 transactions, pay them .45 cents. For 401-700 transactions .50 cents. For 701 and above, pay .75 cents.
This way, you’re protected regardless of how many transactions the ATM does!
4) ATM Processing Connection on Location
ATM machines must be connected to the processing server. There are a few options as far as connection goes. Most businesses have internet in their business, and the machines can connect to this internet saving you any monthly fees. You would need an Ethernet jack by where the machine is going to be placed, or an open port on the modem with the cable line run to where the machine is going to be placed. Another option is a phone line. You would have to have the jack within 3 feet of where the machine is going to be placed. If a phone line or internet connection isn’t available, you can purchase a wireless router that creates it’s own wireless internet. All three options work the same. The phone line or internet line must be run PRIOR to the installation being set up, as the ATM technicians do not run lines.
5) Paperwork
Once you have your location, and are ready to purchase your machine, there is some paperwork that has to be filled out. We also need a copy of a void check for the account you want the money to be recycled into. The paperwork will give you your own unique merchant ID, which allows you into the processing server. Once all your paperwork is filled out, you’re now in the processing network and can own as many machines as you’d like! Once you have your location, just give us a call and we can get you over all the required paperwork with instructions on how to complete it!
6) ATM Purchase
Once you have completed steps 1-5, you’re ready to purchase your first ATM machine. You have to have your location prior to purchasing the machine. The lease option does not apply when you are getting into the ATM business. There are numerous different machine options, with varying aesthetics. We suggest you pick the machine that will best fit in with the business. We offer both stand alone ATM machines, as well as thru the wall ATM machines. Thru the wall machines are significantly more expensive, and are only suggested when it’s a very high volume location for walking traffic. 99% of the time, a standalone machine is what is suggested. We carry all the major manufacturers of machines, and can help suggest a good fit for a certain business. We do suggest that you stay with the same manufacturer for all your locations if possible, as it will make things easier for you! You can look through all the different ATM option.
7) Shipping & Installation of your New ATM Machine
The ATM will be shipped directly to the location of where the machine will be operational. A service technician will program, install, and train you on how to work your new ATM machine. We will provide you with this technician. The price ATM ng ranges from $349-450 depending on the location of the business. The technician will program the ATM machine with all your banking information, as well as what you’d like displayed on the screen and receipt. The technician will also set your surcharge amount you selected. The installation and training should take 1-3 hours. The technician will show you how to operate your machine, as well as how to stock it with cash and receipt paper.
8) After The Machine is Installed
Many people want to know how much to stock the machine with, and there is no correct answer to this question. Most machines hold between $16,000-$20,000 in 20s. However, most people don’t put nearly this much into the machine. We usually suggest a minimum of $1,000 in the machine. The more money you put in the machine, the less you have to go back to refill the machine. How the cash works is as it’s taken out of the machine, it’s automatically wired right back into the bank account you set up with our company. If it’s taken out before 3pm, it will post tomorrow morning, after 3pm it’s the following day. So that cash is always recycling through. Therefore, the smaller amount you stock the machine with, the more often you’ll have to take that cash out of your bank account and restock the machine. Most Distributors do set you up with a website where you can monitor the machine, so you can track how much cash is left in the machine which will ensure that you never let your machine run out of cash.
Once the machine is up and running, next comes the easy part! You can sit back and relax, and monitor your machine from your computer.
9) Restocking the Money
When he machine gets low, simply re-stock it with the same cash. Many distributors or who you bought your machine from will have a website for you to monitor your surcharge. You can also monitor your surcharge from your own computer, so you know how much you are making off each of your machines.
10) Servicing your Machines
After Restocking the machine, you will need to clean it and make sure all things are working properly. If it needs repair, contact an ATM repair technician in your area, or hire your own route technician.
11) Do it Again.
Your next step would be keeping your eye out for a new location, so you can build your business up even more.
13) Buy and Existing Route
You may want to buy an existing ATM Machines or an ATM Route for sale. Listed on our website: https://www.vendingconnection.com/atm-routes-for-sale-usa/
If you are already into ATM Business or Planning to Start ATM Franchise Business, you must know to make it profitable and the tricks that most of the ATM operators apply to make it profitable:
1. Visibility: Make sure that the ATM location has far visibility, and the potential customers know that you have an ATM in your premise. If your location is not on the main road, you must arrange a lollipop signage as indication in the main road to drive customer to your ATM location. You can use ATM Inside Arrow Signs, Banners etc to indicate that there is an ATM.
2. Convenience & Safety: ATM is an alternate channel of Banking system, used for Cash Distribution, which may not give human touch but it should be installed in such a way that for at least 2 minutes customer feels convenient and safe. ATM Entry Door should not be on the back of customer when customer operates the ATM, door can be on left or right side.
3. Availability: ATMs are meant to run 24×7, and is backed with Global Standard SLA of 2 hours response time & 2 hours resolution time. Thus ATM availability should not be compromised in any way. You need to analyze customer behavior and ensure ATM is available most of the time when needed by the Customers.
4. Branding: Branding is an important aspect of driving customers to any kind of business, let it be a Restaurant, or ATM Centre. I will prefer to visit an ATM Centre which has welcoming Signage and Attractive Wall Branding, it is a matter of paying an interchange or extra surcharge. I remember visiting an ATM of Public Sector Bank in New Delhi Railway Station, it was in Horrible Condition, compared to the branding of the Banks I managed. BRANDING IS MORE IMPORTANT.
5. Call to Action: ATM stands for Automated Teller Machine, that uses multi media dispenser, and has the capability to dispense “media” of many size and quality, in addition to standard Currency. Where possible, ATM can have a ‘Call to Action’ option offering valued customer to avail an Offer or a Gift Voucher or a physical Coupon or a Flight Ticket through ATM. But it is unfortunate that ATM is still used only for dispensing Cash. It can be used for push sale of liability products too.
Get started on making appointments for ATM machine locations today. Order your custom location list today.
Call us if you have any questions, 800-956-8363
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