Dirty power degrades ATM customer experience

Would you use an ATM again if it took twice as long to process your transaction? What if it dispensed an incorrect amount, froze mid-task, or, worse, ate your card? Almost certainly not.

ATMs are designed to deliver a swift, smooth, and simple experience and any deviation from this expectation will cause customer to find other options. An often-overlooked detail about the ATM experience is that the consistency of the machine's performance is highly dependent on the quality of the electrical power driving it.

While properly conditioned, "clean" power will result in reliable ATM performance, "dirty" power with voltage irregularities can lead to logic problems, lockups, and equipment degradation. These errors will provide a frustrating customer experience, which can ultimately lead to lost business. It's imperative that service providers understand the dangers of dirty power and how consistent, conditioned power can protect both their ATMs and their customer's investments.

What is "dirty power" and why is it a problem?

Electrical power flows in a sine wave. Clean power adheres to a perfect wave as closely as possible. Dirty power deviates from this proper wave with sags, swells and spikes. Power coming from the grid is almost always dirty when it enters a building due to its long journey from the source. Once inside the building's infrastructure, the power quality can be further compromised by noise coming from the equipment it is powering. In common ATM sites like bank vestibules or convenience stores, this can include overhead lighting, security equipment, refrigeration units, HVAC systems and more.

Dirty power creates voltage volatility that strains connected equipment. Electrically powered equipment is built and tested to perform under normal power conditions, not to withstand prolonged dirty power. This strain manifests in a variety of forms, including system interruptions, software glitches and corrupted data. These issues can result in delays, failed transactions and eaten cards — any of which could deter a customer permanently.

What are the costs associated with dirty power?

Customers will most likely take their business elsewhere. This is particularly painful to retail businesses like convenience stores. According to data from National Cash Systems (NCS), convenience store customers who use the ATM spend an average of 20-25% more during their store visits than those who don't use the ATM. Further data from NCS shows 40% of ATM users visit machines eight to ten times a month. These consumers represent extremely valuable repeat business that ATM site managers cannot afford to lose. The banks behind each ATM are affected, as well. The national average combined out-of-network ATM fee is $4.66, per a 2022 survey from Bankrate, which is money left on the table when users abandon a faulty ATM in favor of a more reliable one.

For ATM managers, technician truck rolls can often result in "no trouble found" diagnoses when the problem is inconsistent power. Service calls still cost a pretty penny despite failing to find any answers and can often lead to premature replacement. Electrical degradation is another cause of replacement and is just as impactful on an ATM's lifespan as physical wear and tear. The average lifespan of a new ATM is around 15 years but if the machine must constantly work harder to consume the power it requires to operate, it will likely need replacing sooner.

What can be done to address dirty power?

Comprehensive power conditioning and management is the best way to proactively mitigate power risks so that equipment stays running smoothly, revenues remain healthy, and customers keep returning. While most ATMs have a UPS and battery backup connected to prevent blackouts, clean power quality requires three features: a surge diverter, a noise filter and a low-impedance isolation transformer.

Most commercial solutions available today deploy either a surge diverter or a noise filter, or sometimes both. The low-impedance isolation transformer is often left out even though it plays the most important role. It isolates the instrument from the power source and re-establishes the neutral-ground bond without opposing or disrupting the current path. This keeps unwanted noise out without negatively affecting power flow while ensuring only clean, reliable power flows to ATMs.

How can I find the right UPS solution?

The best place to get information on UPS products is through a professional power quality consultant or an equipment dealer. These experts not only have a broad range of solutions suitable for ATMs, but they also have analytical tools and services to address an ATM's unique power challenges.