How free ATM placement works for your business

If you run a store, a bar or a gas station, you have probably been offered a “free ATM” at some point and wondered where the catch is. This post explains how free ATM placement works with us: what we pay for, what you provide, how you get paid, and what happens between the first phone call and a machine handing out cash on your floor.

The short version: we supply the machine, the cash, the install and the servicing. You supply a few square feet of floor and a power outlet. The person taking cash out pays a surcharge, that surcharge covers the machine, and you take a share of it.

What free ATM placement actually covers

“Free” gets used loosely, so here is exactly what it means on a placement with us.

• The machine. We own it. There is no equipment to buy and no lease to sign.
• The install. Our deployment team brings the machine, sets it up, loads it and tests it on site.
• The cash. We stock the machine with our cash. None of your money goes into it, and you never handle vault cash.
• Refills. Our cash management team replenishes the machine on a schedule set by how fast it actually runs down.
• Servicing and repairs. Troubleshooting, maintenance, cash issues and transaction questions are covered around the clock, every day.

There is no upfront cost, no equipment lease and no monthly fee. That is the whole list of things you might have expected to pay for, and you don’t pay for any of them.

What you provide

Two things: a spot on the floor and an outlet to plug the machine into. The spot matters more than people think. A machine near the entrance or the register gets seen and used. A machine tucked behind a display rack mostly gets walked past.

You also agree the profit split with our sales team before anything is installed. More on that below.

How the money works

Nobody is giving away ATMs out of kindness, so it is worth being clear about who pays.

When a customer takes cash out, they pay a surcharge on the withdrawal. That surcharge is what pays for the machine, the cash handling and the servicing, and it is also where your earnings come from: you take a share of every transaction.

How much that adds up to depends on two things: how many withdrawals your location does, and the split we agree. A busy store earns more than a quiet one, and we would rather give you an estimate based on your actual foot traffic than a best-case number that never shows up.

There is also a second, quieter benefit. A customer who would have left to find cash stays in your store, and most of them spend some of what they just took out. Cash sales carry no card processing fee, so every withdrawal that turns into a purchase is a sale you keep more of.

From first call to a working machine

Getting a machine placed takes four steps.

1. Reach out. Send us your contact details and the business address through the placement form.
2. Schedule the install. Our sales team calls to agree the profit split and pick a date and time that fits around your hours.
3. Install day. Our deployment team brings the machine, sets it up, loads it and tests it on site.
4. Start earning. Customers use it, the cash stays in your store, and you earn a share of every transaction.

In our core service areas, most placements happen within 48 hours of a signed agreement. We schedule the install around your trading hours so it doesn’t get in the way of a busy shift.

You can read more about the process on our ATM placement services page.

What happens after the install

This is where a placement is won or lost. A machine that runs out of cash or sits broken for a week is worse than no machine at all, because customers learn not to rely on it.

Keeping it stocked

Machines report cash levels and transaction activity as they happen. A machine that is running low gets flagged on our side before your customers run into an empty cassette, and our cash management team refills it under the security protocols the cash-in-transit side of this business requires.

Keeping it running

When something goes wrong, someone answers. Support runs 24/7, and we stock the common failure parts so a machine gets repaired rather than sitting dark waiting on a shipment. Inside our service areas we are usually on site within about an hour, depending on how far the location is from the nearest technician hub.

The four things that account for nearly every ATM failure are card readers, cash dispensers, printers and connectivity. A lot of software and configuration issues can be fixed remotely without a truck at all. Our ATM servicing and installations page covers what our technicians handle in more detail.

Is your business a good fit?

Free placement works best where people want cash and don’t want to leave to get it: gas stations, convenience stores, liquor stores, bars and other businesses with steady foot traffic.

Location matters on our side too. We place machines in 27 states, and the service runs out of our technician hubs, so how quickly we reach you depends on how far you are from the nearest one. Our own technicians are based in metro Detroit and southeast Michigan, which is where installs happen fastest. You can see the full list of states on our areas we service page.

If we can’t service an address properly ourselves, we will tell you that rather than take the placement and underserve it. A machine we can’t keep stocked and running doesn’t help either of us.

Questions worth asking any ATM provider

Whoever you end up talking to, these questions separate a real free placement from a sales pitch:

• Who owns the machine, and is there any lease or monthly fee?
• Whose cash goes in the machine, and who refills it?
• How is my share worked out, and is the split agreed before install?
• What happens when it breaks at 9pm on a Saturday?
• How is my earnings estimate calculated?

If the answers are vague, the deal probably is too.

Common questions

How much does an ATM cost my business?

Nothing. We cover the machine, the installation, the cash, the maintenance and the servicing. The surcharge paid by the person withdrawing cash covers the cost, and you take a share of it.

How fast can an ATM be installed?

Most placements happen within 48 hours of a signed agreement in our core service areas. We schedule the install around your hours.

Who fills the machine with cash?

We do. Our cash management team handles replenishment on a schedule set by how fast the machine runs down. You never handle vault cash and none of your own money goes into the machine.

What happens if the ATM breaks?

Call us. Support runs 24 hours a day, we stock the common failure parts, and inside our service areas we are usually on site within about an hour.

If you’d like a machine in your business, send us your address and we’ll tell you what that location could realistically earn.