ATM Frequently asked Questions and more help

Questions we receive, and our answers.

Top Ten Frequently Asked Questions (plus more help):

1. How much money will I make?
We don't know exactly because it varies from location. It depends on the type of business the machine is located in. It also depends on the standard of living in the area. Where ever is costs more to live, higher surcharges are tolerated. You will generally pay a higher surcharge in New York City, than in a small town in Iowa. Another variable is how much of a surcharge you set. It's easy to get a general idea though. Just use simple math. How many people do you think will use your ATM in a month? 100, 300, 500? Let's say 300 people will use your ATM in one month. Let's also say you have a $2 surcharge. So, 300 X $2 is $600 a month. Plug in any other figures to get a good idea of your potential.

2. How much do your ATMs cost?
In general, they start at less than $2200 and go up to $15,000. The best sellers are less than $3000.

3. Do you have statistics that show me how much profit I will make?
All statistics you read on the Internet include bank ATMs. This skews the information towards banking ATMs and the result is mostly irrelevant information. The only way to know how much money you will make is to use this simple formula: number of transactions X amount of surcharge = money made.
300 x $2 = $600 as per the example above. If your machine costs $3000 to purchase it, in 5 months it would be paid for and everything after is profit.

4. Where do I get the money to put in the ATM?
Money is not included in the sale of the machine. You have to put your own money in it. Go to your bank and ask for bundles of bills to put in an ATM. Most people start with $3000 to $5000. Most ATMs hold around $20,000. Very few ATM owners put that much money in an ATM.

5. Where does the money go that comes out of the ATM and how do I get it back?
When someone uses your ATM, they are accessing their debit or credit card account to get an overnight loan from your ATM. Most ATM owners set a surcharge fee for this convenience. Each ATM has a terminal ID and a bank routing number. When someone takes money out of your ATM, the banking networks know what machine did the transaction through these numbers. That's how the banking networks also know where to put the money back the next day, through the routing number.
Example: All ATMs settle on banking days at 4:00 pm EST. Money taken out of the ATM before 4:00 pm EST will appear in your bank account the next day.
Any money taken out after 4:00 pm will appear the day after.
Any money taken out after 4:00 pm EST on a Friday will not show up in your bank account until Monday. Saturday and Sundays are not banking days. All surcharge money is deposited into your bank account once a month. All vault cash you load is returned to you via your bank account, usually the following day.

6. What if I have a problem with my ATM? What if it needs repaired?
There are ATM installers and repairmen nationwide. There are also support teams that help troubleshoot any problems before deploying repairmen. We also maintain a database of ATM tech's nationwide. If you are a certified ATM field tech, fill out our form on the home page.

7. Can you mail me all the information you have about all of your ATM machines?
All of the information we have is included on our web site. Almost every word on each machine's brochure is included on our web site as well.
You can download each machine's brochure on our brochure page if you like. The link is on the right side of this page. The purpose of this web site is to not have to mail out information. Why wait a week when you can read about it or download it now?

8. Are there any hidden fees or charges?
We have tried to make ATM processing as free as possible. There are some small charges that come from ATM processors however. Some administrative functions such as refilling the machine with money, resetting machine totals, etc. require the ATM to dial out to the processor. This basically amounts to a data phone call, and a .03 cent fee.
For example, let's say you filled the machine once a week for a month and reset the total in the machine.
The ATM would dial out to the processor 4 times at .03 cents each for a total of .12 cents for the month.

9. I want an ATM that works on DSL or wireless. Do you sell those?
Yes, we sell those. Our recommendation is to stick with the standard phone line however. DSL has the advantage of being faster per transaction, but unless you anticipate a waiting line at your ATM, you really do not need the speed of DSL. As with wireless, additional hardware must be purchased and you would need to have knowledge of IP addresses and networking. Also, DSL is prone to brief outages that can prevent an ATM from completing a transaction. It's so much simpler and cheaper to use a standard phone line.
Our recommendation is this: Start off with the standard phone line. Learn the ATM. Later you can convert into DSL or wireless.
Then, at least, you will have a standard phone line to fall back on if you have trouble getting the others to work. ATM downtime is lost surcharge revenue.

10. Can you find me a business to put my ATM in? I heard you could make money doing that.
If you want to start a business placing ATMs in businesses you do not own as an investment venture, we really have no information about how to do that. Some of our customers are established ATM companies and are frequent buyers. Many started out with vending routes.
We simply sell ATMs at ATMmachine.com. We are not advisors or start up consultants. (Not enough hours in the day and the pay is lousy!)
If you already have an ATM business and need to buy more machines or find a better processor, we can do that.
We try and devote all of our time to helping storefront business owners purchase an ATM for their customer's use.

Please note:

We do not sell ATMs on Ebay.
We do not buy or sell used ATMs ourselves. (Sometimes we know of a used machine, but we leave the sale up to the ATM owner.)
We are not ATM venture startup consultants. We can't help you start your own ATM business. We are much closer to being wholesalers rather than retailers.

Our customer is the brick and mortar store owner.
Bowling alleys, nail salons, sports complexes, convenience stores, restaurants, and everything in between.
If you own the actual business location, or lease the property, and want to buy an ATM, you are our main customer.

We only sell ATM's in the USA.

Toll free: 1-888-336-4872

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