If you’re a business owner, investing in an ATM can be a great way to add an extra source of income. When you own an ATM, you can make money for each transaction every time your ATM is used. But before you invest in owning your ATM, it’s goodto know what happens during every transaction and how you make money through your ATM.
The first step in the process, at least after you buy the ATM, find a location for it, and have it installed, is choosing a surcharge amount. Most ATMs come with a surcharge between $2 and $3, although this can vary based on the location and how much demand there is for using an ATM. For instance, you can get away with a higher surcharge at a casino than a retail store. Deciding on a surcharge will have a direct affect on how much money you’ll make for each ATM transaction.
If you fill the ATM with your own money, you will be refunded the money withdrawn from the machine by customers through an automated clearing house. This is typically done at the end of each business day. This ensures you don’t go too long without having access to your own money. On the other hand, if you use a vault cash management service, they will provide the cash for your ATM and handle the refilling of the machine for an agreed upon price.
Meanwhile, the money made from the surcharge comes from an ATM network. The network will collect the surcharge fee from each customer and either send a check or make a direct deposit to you, the ATM owner. In most cases, this happens on a monthly basis so that it’s easy to keep track of the revenue from your ATM. This ensures that the whole process of getting paid for ATM transactions is as simple and easy as possible.
There may even be a way to make more money than what the surcharge provides. Banks also pay fees to ATM networks during each ATM transaction called an interchange. Some ATM networks take some of the money they earn from the interchange and give it to the ATM owner, particularly when an ATM has a high volume of transactions. This may not be a drastic improvement from the money received for each surcharge, but it can add up over time and lead to even more income from your ATM.
Contact National ATM Wholesale today to learn about our vault cash management.