Article

U.K. ATM deployer launches mobile-phone text-messaging game

"We really wanted to find a way to give something back to our loyal customers as a means of setting our machines apart from competitors," said Ron Delnevo, managing director of Bank Machine.

June 9, 2011

What can a cardholder do while he is waiting for the ATM to dispense his cash? He can drum his fingers on the ATM cabinet, stare blankly at the ATM screen or look over his shoulder to see if he is being eyeballed by the person standing behind him in line.

Now, he also can play Text2Win, a new game Bank Machine Ltd., a U.K.-based independent ATM deployer (IAD) is offering at 1,000 of its more than 3,000 ATMs. Cardholders use their mobile phones to text a multiple-choice answer to questions asked on Bank Machine's ATM screens.

A sample question asks, "Which airline had Skytrain written on the side of its airplanes?" The multiple choice answers are: A) Laker, B) Pan Am and C) TWA. The answer is Laker, which went out business in 1982.

The mobile phone user is then instructed to text the word ATM followed by either answer A, B or C to 60777. A winner can receive up to £1,000 (U.S.$1,623.41). Cardholders can play Text2Win while waiting for the machine to dispense the cash or they can take the machine's receipt. The contest's details are printed on the receipt, enabling the customer to play the game later.

Bank Machine launched Text2Win earlier this week but trialed it beforehand. Three cardholders each won £1,000, including Nigel Simons, who decided to use the funds to finance his own business, Bank Machine officials said.

Ron Delnevo, managing director of Bank Machine, said this is the latest innovation from his company and the first of its kind in the U.K.

"The mechanic is very straightforward, with the questions based on multiple choice," Delnevo said. "Any customer therefore has a good opportunity to win an attractive prize." Other innovations from Bank Machine, which is owned by Cardtronics, a Houston-based IAD, are ATMs that only issue the £5 banknote (U.S.$8.12), and ATMs that dispense cents off coupons for a Mars candy bar.

Bank Machine officials were asked if Text2Win has increased traffic at the company's ATMs.

"Up to 5 percent of visitors to these machines are entering the competition," company officials said. Delnevo said Text2Win was designed to ensure customer loyalty and to distinguish the IAD from competitors.

"We really wanted to find a way to give something back to our loyal customers as a means of setting our machines apart from competitors," Delnevo said. "The level of interest suggests it has certainly worked on both counts. We are already planning a number of further initiatives, which will bring a smile to the faces of people using our ATMs."