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Hold on - my ATM's on the other line ...

February 17, 2012 by Richard Buckle — Founder and CEO, Pyalla Technologies, LLC

I have covered my history working with ATMs in earlier posts, but what may not be well known is my enthusiastic support of everything mobile. Yes, I have a smartphone (although of late, I have been questioning my selection of Blackberry) and a tablet (an iPad, and that’s more like it) and they travel with me everywhere I go. But as I use these devices, fear of personal identity theft and the potential financial hit that this can cause are never far from my mind. And no more so is this the case than when I am pulling a large amount of cash from my local ATM!

Readers may recall from my last post how I argued that there should be no more occasions where, standing in front of an ATM and scanning the mirror above us we wonder, “Who’s that behind me?”, or where we run our hands around the ATM enclosure looking for pinhole cameras, thinking, “Am I being watched?”

However, probably of more concern than the question of whether I’m being watched is the question of what’s going to happen next. With headlines routinely telling us of fraudulent transactions, and robberies in the daylight, will I be next? I don’t think there is much I can do about a dude with a baseball bat wanting my cash NOW, but there is a lot that can be done to prevent fraud.

In his post of last Dec. 30, Kevin Christensen suggested “Community banks and credit unions can make a significant dent in fraud losses by giving cardholders a heads-up where fraud is concerned. This is particularly important in the area of phishing attacks, which are coming fast and furious — and not only via phone, but also via email and even text messages.” Alternatively, Christensen had suggested in his post of last Nov. 28 that perhaps “there is one very simple and completely free way community banks and credit unions can reduce fraud losses, which is to lower the daily limits allowed to debit cardholders.”

I can appreciate Christensen’s point of view and he does raise a good point, but I am not sure he’s applying this to ATM cash dispensing. It would be counterintuitive to suggest, “Yes, deploy ATMs but to be safe, let’s not have them dispensing too much cash. It could be dangerous.”

Still, something may need to be done. And giving us all a heads-up makes complete sense to me, but how?

In a separate post to this publication on last June 13, Frederick Lowe referenced an industry survey sponsored by Level Four Software titled "Five Ways to Innovate at the ATM." He quoted Level Four CEO Ian Kerr, who had commented on the findings of the survey saying “Banks and other ATM deployers view integration of ATMs with smartphones as key in the ongoing development of the ATM channel ... The growing use of smartphones will lead to cardless ATM cash withdrawals through the use of Near Field Communication in which the smartphone owner holds up his mobile phone to the ATM to complete a transaction without the need of a card.”

A week earlier, Lowe had blogged about how ATM users, frustrated over the slow response of an ATM could always fill the void by playing a game with the ATM! “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,” Lowe said, or the ATM user “can play Text2Win, a new game Bank Machine Ltd., a U.K.-based independent ATM deployer is offering at 1000 of its more than 3000 ATMs. Cardholders use their mobile phones to text a multiple-choice answer to questions asked on Bank Machine's ATM screens.”

No matter how you look at it — whether in support of better security, compensating for poor performance, or simply catering to the youth of today who just have to multitask, the age of mobile phones interacting with ATMs is upon us. The interaction I would like would is to hear from my bank as I request a large cash withdrawal in case it really isn’t me in front of the machine.

Likewise, I suspect all financial institutions would like to have their ATM monitoring software alert them to a pattern of ATM withdrawal confirmations being rejected, or where a single ATM was serving as the only point of intersection for a diverse population of users. “Shut that ATM down as it has been compromised!”

Yes, I do see the time when my smartphone will be an integral part of how I withdraw cash from an ATM. Will it lessen my need to stay aware of my surroundings? Possibly not, as this is just good old common sense. But it could go a long way toward easing my concerns about my ATM usage in light of the raft of fraudulent activities I seem to read about on a regular basis.

Playing interactive games with my ATM? On that point I am not so sure, although I have to admit, if I happen to stand behind someone who carries on a lengthy exchange with an ATM even after their cash arrives, the results may not be exactly in line with what the surveys predicted!

Security

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.

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