Innovation

Remote hosting will transform ATMs

It's high time for the ATM industry to leverage cloud-based technology to streamline its operations and diversify its services.

Photo: Adobe Stock

December 8, 2025 by Leland Englebardt — President, e-squared systems, Inc.

What do these five electronic devices all have in common: pagers, telephone answering machines, fax machines, handheld calculators and portable MP3 players? They're all extinct or nearly so. They all did one thing – in most cases, they did it pretty well — but within the past decade they've all been replaced by multi-function tools that consumers find more useful.

Single-function ATMs are on a similar trajectory. Cash dispensers provide a valuable service, but consumers have come to expect a broader range of functions. With banks scaling back their branch networks, diversified financial self-service in retail locations is more important than ever.

In 2024 there were 33.5 billion domestic money transfers in the US with a value of over $80 trillion. Outbound remittances from the US are estimated to exceed $90 billion a year. Check cashing is a $3 billion industry. All these functions and more can be performed efficiently and conveniently by ATMs and kiosks. The big barriers for retail ATM operators are that full-featured multifunction ATMs have much higher price tags than simpler cash dispensers, and integration of many functions at the terminal level usually requires heavy technical lifting.

But those barriers are falling. ATMs no longer need to have enormous memory or powerful processing capacity to support a wide range of applications. loud-based remote hosting can enable a more affordable terminal to deliver a functionally unlimited number of potential services. It can do so in near-real time with a few clicks, instead of scheduling a technician visit. It can also improve the terminal's resistance to logical fraud attacks.

Remote hosting integrates multiple financial functions in a single secure platform. When a consumer selects a function, the terminal calls out to the central platform rather than processing the request internally. Thus, the terminal can be simpler and less expensive to maintain while the transactions it supports continue to happen fast and consistently.

Remote hosting also helps address several of the most common causes of terminal downtime, such as terminal configuration problems, software application errors, and operating system problems.

Cloud computing has revolutionized the efficiency and power of computing for individuals and businesses of every size by enhancing scalability, reducing costs, and enabling faster innovation. A 2023 analysis by McKinsey & Company estimated that leveraging the cloud could generate incremental EBITDA of about $3 trillion for the S&P 500 by 2030. In 2024, Amazon Web Services, in collaboration with an independent analysis firm, reported that in 2023 cloud adoption overall contributed more than $1 trillion to the global gross domestic product and claimed that "the cloud's contribution to global GDP is projected to surpass $12 trillion in the next six years."

Cloud-based remote hosting can bring similar benefits and more to ATM and kiosk operators. Imagine reallocating 80% of the time terminal owners now spend on software roll-outs and technical issues to customer service and securing great locations. Imagine being able to provide customized merchant loyalty programs to help clients differentiate their ATM locations.

It's been about 15 years since cloud-based software distribution became dominant for home and business computing. High time, then, for the ATM industry to leverage this proven technology to streamline its operations and diversify its services. Cash will be an essential part of our lives for a long time to come, but devices that only dispense cash will not. As recent history has shown, they will be replaced by flexible, multifunctional terminals that meet consumers' needs and help grow their owners' revenue and profitability.

About Leland Englebardt

---