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Friendly ATMs — what brings you back?
If gaining access to money from an ATM crosses the line from convenient and 'cool' to burdensome, the flight from cash will accelerate.
October 1, 2015 by Richard Buckle — Founder and CEO, Pyalla Technologies, LLC
I recentlyhad the good fortune to participate in the season-ending event for the Indy Racing League. This year it was held at the beautiful track at Sonoma (formerly Sears Point). We camped trackside and there were tours of nearby wineries to serve as a distraction.
(For more about that weekend, the post, "Moving on and yet, no lessening in our desire to be mobile!" might be of interest. While that post centered on remaining mobile, it did bring another aspect of mobility — the temporary ATM — into the spotlight.)
Wandering the passageways of the temporary city erected for a major automobile race (and at Sonoma this year, it was sizable), it's hard to resist spending some money on trinkets and souvenirs. For me, it had to be a baseball cap in support of the Verizon driver and last year's winner of the series, Will Power. Considering that it featured his racecar emblazoned with No. 1, it was a must-have — and as an ex-pat Aussie, why not?
What facilitated the transaction was a nearby ATM from which I was able to withdraw enough cash to pay for the exorbitantly priced keepsakes — no charges to appear on the family credit card and raise the indignation of the wife!
Much safer to use cash, and I wasn't alone in this respect. There was an almost constant line of attendees looking to withdraw cash. As at many such venues, the concession stands scattered around the track just didn't support card transactions so here was yet another case where cash is king!
But it wasn't just the convenience that comes with cash, or the anonymity that sometimes proves beneficial (yes, I paid a tad under $40 for that baseball cap), but simply being able to be courteous to my fellow spectators.
This was brought home in no uncertain manner when I returned home to Boulder. A few days later I dropped in on the Saturday morning farmers market and while some vendors had the forethought to bring with them card readers, most were only taking cash. And really, standing in line to buy a bucket of corn and then bringing the whole process to a halt while the vendor attempts to process your plastic quickly annoys those standing behind you.
Someone had the foresight to anchor the |
Fortunately, the organizers of Boulder's farmers market had procured an ATM, but this one was another instance of the quirkiness of Boulder. Someone had the foresight to anchor the ATM to an object — but an umbrella?
While I respected the ingenuity of the individual who thought of shading me during the transaction process, the sight of an umbrella firmly wedged into a crack in the concrete brought a smile to my face.
Surely nobody thought it would deter someone from throwing a rope around the ATM and driving off — there certainly were many quite capable pickup trucks idling nearby. And would anyone try to stop such an action?
Cash-and-carry comes to mind for more than one reason. On the other hand, it's one more sign of our assurance that financial transactions can occur anywhere, and that bricks-and-mortar bank branches are not a necessary component in getting cash.
"If it dispenses (cash) it's all the bank I need," seems to be the mindset among the all-important demographic we know as millennials. And particularly in a college town like Boulder where cash remains the preferred instrument of commerce — whether at the bar, salon or corner convenience store — if there's an ATM, it will be used.
Attachment to a bricks-and-mortar establishment gives the Boulder community no greater or lesser sense of security and, from the short conversations I have had with those supplying the ATMs, no additional security steps have been taken to ensure that ATMs aren't simply hauled away behind a pickup. "Hey, it's cool ... "
This is the reality today — and perhaps the message that's missed in all the noise about the need for greater security for ATMs. Can we afford to lose the cool factor? Can we afford to make the interaction unfriendly?
If gaining access to our cash from an ATM ceases to be cool and in the process crosses the line to become, dare we say, burdensome, then the flight from cash will accelerate and no one will really care about random thefts of ATMs, as there will be next to no cash in them anyway!
Wandering the aisles at the racetrack and the farmers marketplace with cash in hand means I just spent more. And as any vendor will tell you, that's all that counts. Each transaction in cash was quick and I was long gone by the time the next patron was ready to be served, and that too is cool.
Now if only I had enough cash to buy that die-cast model of Will's car. But not today; what I have left will pay for that hotdog and a really cool beer!
About Richard Buckle
Richard Buckle is the founder and CEO of Pyalla Technologies, LLC. He has enjoyed a long association with the Information Technology (IT) industry as a user, vendor, and more recently, as an industry commentator, thought leader, columnist and blogger. Richard participates in the HPE VIP Community where he is part of their influencer team.
