3 Startling Facts about Cash & ATMs that You Should Know

We’ve all heard the rumors…”Cash is dead”…“The ATM is old technology”… “Today’s consumers are all credit/debit and mobile banking”. However, recent data says it’s all hearsay.

Here are three surprising facts you should know about cash and ATMs.

• Cash is the most used retail payment instrument,according to a report on findings from the Diary of Consumer Payment Choice. Cash makes up 40% of consumer transaction activity in the United States. It is also the primary method of payment for low-value transactions, especially for lower-income groups. High-income demographics will even use cash for high ticket purchases. 
• Two out of five consumers who demand mobile banking insist on free ATMs, too.First quarter 2014 numbers from FindABetterBank.com show that 28% of those looking for checking accounts consider mobile banking a “must have”. Of that group, 43% must also have access to surcharge-free ATMs. This all makes sense if you consider that mobile banking users want mobile banking because they are….well, mobile. Of course they would want free and easy access to cash, too. 
• 17% of all checking account shoppers indicated that FREE ATM access is a “must have”, according to numbers from FindABetterBank.com. Consumers also prefer free ATMs to surcharge reimbursement.Of the two options, surcharge-free is 50% more popular. How often are these 17% utilizing ATMs? Enough to make FREE ATM use a major part of their banking decisions! 

The numbers clearly show that all of those rumors are just so much smoke. So…while your institution is considering all of the new technologies out there like mobile and social banking, you should ALSO be thinking about how these ideas integrate with cash access and the ATM!