Article

Kontanten ATMs raise funds for breast cancer research

Deployer's slogan is, "You make a difference when you choose Kontanten's Orange ATMs."

December 14, 2010

Kontanten AB, a Stockholm, Sweden-based independent ATM deployer’s slogan is, "You make a difference when you choose Kontanten’s Orange ATMs." That really proved to be true when Kontanten successfully used its ATMs to host blogs in order to raise funds for cancer research.

Thirty-one Swedish celebrities, including a government cabinet minister, a member of parliament and other high-profile bloggers, shared their personal stories about their experiences related to the pink ribbon campaign of the Swedish Cancer Society. Kontanten ran the blog campaign for 31 days from October 1 to October 31. Each celebrity wrote one blog post during the month.

Kontanten ATMs were decorated with the pink ribbon campaign logo to attract cardholders’ attention. 

The pink ribbon campaign is a fund-raising campaign for breast cancer research, said Martin Lundberg, a spokesperson for Grayling Sweden, Kontanten’s outside public relations firm. The blogs focused on raising awareness about the importance of supporting cancer research. The blogs also told stories of how cancer victims’ friends and their families were affected.

Kontanten operates more than 450 Wincor Nixdorf ATMs, and the company displayed the blog posts on the ATMs linked to a Facebook page. The blogs’ first 250 characters were displayed on the ATM screens. Kontanten, which said it is the first independent ATM deployer to create an ATM blog, uploaded the blogs to its machines. Instructions then directed cardholders to read more on the ATM cancer blog on Facebook.

“The feedback was very positive,” said Ursula Tengelin, secretary general of the Swedish Cancer Society. “The ATM Cancer Blog reached a great number of people, and many expressed their sincere appreciation for the cause. Kontanten has definitely led by example in raising money to fight cancer.”

The ATM blog posts reached more than 1.5 million people. Combined with the Facebook page and bloggers’ own platforms, the campaign reached more than 3 million people, or one in every three Swedes, Lundberg said.

Kontanten’s use of ATMs is another example of some of the unique ways banks and independent ATM deployers are using their machines.
 
Last week, Wells Fargo & Co., a San Francisco-based bank, announced that cardholders could use its more than 12,000 ATMs to budget. Wells Fargo’s ATM Cash Tracker enables bank cardholders to manage their monthly cash withdrawals.

Patrik Severgardh, Kontanten’s founder and marketing director, said the breast cancer campaign became such a huge success partly because it was a brand new way of using an ATM. He added, however, that the main reason was that bloggers raised money for a good cause. 

Kontanten’s ATM campaign proved to be a prolific fund-raising machine. Cardholders did not donate funds directly through the ATM. They withdrew funds, which averaged $93 per person for the month. Kontanten donated 1.5 cents to the Swedish Cancer Society for each cash withdrawal.

There were 1.5 million withdrawals in October, which was an all-time high for cash withdrawals from Kontanten ATMs. The independent ATM company donated $21,993.99 during October to the Swedish Cancer Society, which was the most successful month for fund raising, Lundberg said. Kontanten will donate $220,000 to the cancer society for the entire year, he added.