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Jumping into January: The ATM Marketplace Top 5

Our top stories for the first month of 2016 made for an interesting mashup of projections and retrospection concerning the automatic teller machine.

February 3, 2016 by Suzanne Cluckey — Owner, Suzanne Cluckey Communications

The first month of the year, January, is like a great big snowdrift — bright, fresh, just waiting for someone to jump into it.

ATM Marketplace jumped into January 2016 with what turned out to be the month's most-read item, a feature presenting thoughts and insights from industry experts on the big stories of 2015 (the Diebold-Wincor deal) and the big-stories-to-be of 2016 (the industry scramble toward Oct. 1 EMV compliance).

In fact, we seemed to spend a lot of January contemplating the past and peering into the future, as if seeking to pinpoint and secure the ATM's place in a transformed banking and payments landscape:

'Was the ATM a disruptive innovation?' by Bernardo Bátiz-Lazo of Bangor University offers a look at how, 50 years ago, the ATM changed the way consumers interact with their financial institution.

On the other hand, "The humble ATM: So much more than a cash machine" by Kirsty Berry of Compass Plus examines the ways that technology is now changing the way consumers interact with the now-50-year-old ATM.

These past and future views are a reminder that disruption is a constant, but not necessarily a catastrophe. ATMs didn't kill branches; smartphones will not kill ATMs.

In 1905, Spanish philosopher George Santayana wrote, "Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it." Some years later during the automobile age, an unknown thinker said, "You can't drive forward looking in the rearview mirror."

In 1976, a drivers ed instructor told me, "Check your mirrors every three seconds." This might be a rule of thumb to remember as we jump into a world of disruption in 2016.

No. 5

The humble ATM: So much more than a cash machine

Recent cost pressures have meant that financial institutions are looking to self-service channels to get better value from the branch.

Step forward the ATM. Financial institutions are increasingly equipping the machines with more functionality to enable customers to carry out transactions at their own convenience, both away from and inside the branch.

No. 4

Fearless 2016 projections

For a variety of reasons, we might look back on 2016 as one of the most disruptive years ever in payments.

No matter where you sit in the payments field, buckle up and be prepared for what could be a wild ride.

Here are what we see as the likely payments headlines this year ...

No. 3

Was the ATM a disruptive innovation?

During the last two or three years I have addressed and taken part in a number of industry forums, conferences and webinars.

When mingling with the crowd at these meetings, I am often questioned about the technology that I think will disrupt retail payments (and specifically put cash to bed for good).

No. 2 

4 ways to avoid tossing your old ATM

It’s not an old TV.

It’s not a boat anchor.

It’s not past its useful life.

Contrary to what you may have heard — perhaps even from your own ATM supplier — your older ATM still has value!

No. 1 

ATMs in 2016: What's in the stars?

Having concluded another 365 rotations, the planet and its three million or so ATMs are already counting down the next 366 (it's a leap year, remember).

But before closing the book on 2015, we asked ATM industry stakeholders and observers to tell us what they view as the past year's biggest developments — and what they see in the stars for 2016.

all photos istock

About Suzanne Cluckey

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Suzanne’s editorial career has spanned three decades and encompassed all B2B and B2C communications formats. Her award-winning work has appeared in trade and consumer media in the United States and internationally.