How to make Bitcoin ATMs more user friendly

Recently, I did a series looking at what the experience was like to purchase and sell bitcoin at a variety of Bitcoin ATMs. While the experience was interesting, I do think there is room for improvement. Here are a few tips to make Bitcoin ATMs more user friendly.

Provide clear instructions

While some Bitcoin ATMs users may be experts with the cryptocurrency, this isn't the case for many users. They may be completely new to this world and have no idea what they have to do to purchase and store bitcoin.

As a result, a Bitcoin ATM should provide clear and concise instructions of what the user needs to do. For example, the ATM needs to inform the user that they need a bitcoin wallet and they will need either the wallet's address or a QR code to receive or sell bitcoin from the machine.

If a user is uncertain of what wallet to get, the ATM can give suggestions of certain wallets to download onto their phones. It can even team up with wallet providers for a mutually beneficial partnership.

Be clear on its features

Every Bitcoin ATM is different. Some can accept only cash, while others can accept debit card payments. Some sell bitcoin, while others can both sell and purchase bitcoin. Some can provide change, others need exact bill amounts.

Bitcoin ATM providers need to be absolutely clear with customers what their machines can and cannot do, otherwise the customer will end up with a bad experience and will either give up in their bitcoin journey or go to another company.

For example, when I used a Coin Cloud ATM to try to sell bitcoin, it told me to go online to set up the sale. However, when I went online, it said that particular ATM did not support that feature at this time. I found this rather frustrating as the ATM itself did not say that it could not purchase bitcoin, so I had made the trip for no reason.

Be transparent about fees

Bitcoin ATMs obviously must charge fees, but many customers can be taken back when they realize that a significant portion of their money was eaten up by fees, particularly if those fees seem "hidden." If a customer feels they have cheated by the ATM, they likely won't return a second time.

For this reason, Bitcoin ATMs need to be up front on what fees it charges and how much it charges per transaction. If there are larger fees based on transaction size, the ATM needs to communicate that.

Overall, with all of these issues, it comes down to communication. If the Bitcoin ATM can deliver good communication, it will in turn create a good customer experience.