Brendan Thorpe, Customer Success Manager at Auriga
Every interaction with ATMs or ASSTs emits hundreds of thousands of data points per day, and with thousands of interactions daily, that equals a lot of data. This is a potential goldmine for banks to dig into, especially for successful omnichannel strategies. Leaders in the banking industry agree that data is crucial for them to stay ahead of the curve, but how to use this asset is not widely understood.
ATM-derived data provides insights into how customers interact with the machines as well as how these self-service endpoints are performing. So, harvesting data from ATM networks can be a sure way for banks to improve their offerings for customers, enable them to lower their operational costs and increase profitability.
Focusing on data analytics
Banks have continued to face challenges in how they leverage ATM-derived data – firstly, with getting their data right, and secondly, turning this information into usable insights. And in order to do this successfully, financial services institutions need a strong data management process in place. These should be capable of end-to-end mapping of all in-person and online self-service banking channels. This must also include real-time monitoring and predictive analytics, which help banks to understand how the network is performing, and how customers interact with the endpoints.

With an integrated data management strategy across a bank’s entire network, it will help them to further their omnichannel ambitions. It is important for financial services institutions to leverage tools which provide insights across all touchpoints, in-person, phone, online and apps. This will enable them to have a full and comprehensive picture of their operations and be able to identify if there are any inefficiencies or issues within the network. If there are problems, then they can be fixed with little to no disruption to the service.
Not only to improve banking services, but financial institutions can also use real-time monitoring to see any attacks on their endpoints from threat actors. ATMs have sensors embedded in the machine and around it, so these will pick up how people interact with the endpoints. Usually, the sensors will see harmless interactions, but other times, it could show that a threat actor was attempting to attack the machine and take money out. So, with real-time monitoring and analysis, banks are much better able to protect themselves and their customers.
Moreover, continuous monitoring of the entire banking network will allow them to better predict the future performance of all touch points within their omnichannel operations. To ensure that banks get the necessary information for their business, they can apply specific parameters to better understand how each touchpoint is performing in a defined situation.
The transformational impact of advanced analytics
Banks should be on the lookout for more intuitive cash management and data analytics processes. Here, they must rely on real-time data analytics, which not only gives them a better view of how ATMs and ASSTs in their network are performing, but also unlocks deeper insight into customer behaviour. This is key for banks to know how to improve the performance of their operations and serve their customers.
Banks can collect data based on transaction flow which is a good indication of if transactions can be done in a different, more efficient or streamlined way. Here, financial services institutions will see where inefficiencies lie and can continually improve their operations to ensure that they are offering customers the best service possible. Even though the use of cash has declined overall including the UK where UK Finance found that 1.5 million people across the country mainly used cash for their day-to-day spending. This highlights that the ATM remains a vital touchpoint in an overall omnichannel banking strategy.
Additionally, real-time monitoring of cash usage in ATMs and ASSTs will ensure that cash cartridges are replenished only when they need to be. This will make sure that customers have access to cash when they need it, and create a streamlined cash delivery process. This will also reduce how much banks must spend on Cash-In-Transit (CIT) services including related security and insurance costs.
One of the obstacles to banks taking a more data analytic approach to ATM and cash management has been the use of one size fits all data analytics packages that do not have the full capabilities needed. For financial services institutions to successfully leverage real-time data insights, they should use a dynamic, industry-specific banking business analytics platform that can easily integrate into their current systems. It is essential for the platform to collect and analyse the data in real-time, including all key touch points in a bank’s network, from in-person to online. This data should then be turned into actionable insights into both performance of the network and customer behaviour. From here, offer more tailored products and services to their customers, and this enables them to stay ahead of the curve.
As banks continue to digitally transform and develop their omnichannel banking strategies, they should put data at the heart. Financial services organisations must understand how all service channels across their network are performing to make sure that customers are offered the best and most tailored service for their needs. Real-time data analytics and monitoring is the way banks can be successful now and into the future.