“ATM in Restaurant or Retail Location: Increased Sales, Customer Convenience,” by Nationwide Automated Systems

Woman Using Atm MachineMany businesses opt to place an automatic teller machine in their facilities. These machines prove extremely convenient for customers, who can use their credit, bank, and debit cards to obtain cash. It also promotes retail objectives, because it keeps customers in the store, restaurant, hotel, or other type of business; if they were forced to leave the establishment to seek funds, they might choose to make their purchases elsewhere.

According to reports, companies with on-site ATMs increase sales and generate walk-in traffic. Moreover, establishments that have an ATM reduce and even eliminate the need to accept credit cards and checks. Accepting credit and debit cards necessitates considerable expense, including equipment, connections, maintenance, and fees. Checks pose similar problems for companies that employ online mechanisms or other verification methods to determine whether the customer has sufficient funding to cover the amount of the sale.

About Nationwide Automated Systems: 
In business for more than 15 years, Nationwide Automated Systems offers businesses the opportunity to place ATMs on-site without the need for financial outlays for maintenance and updates. The company, which operates throughout the United States, provides diligent customer response and service seven days a week. In addition, Nationwide Automated Systems designs custom wood cabinets for hotels that match each facility’s décor.

Nationwide Automated Systems on How to Choose a PIN

As an increasing number of financial transactions are completed electronically, security has never been more important. Selecting a strong personal identification number (PIN) is one of the most useful tools in protecting identity as well as personal finances.

The key to choosing a PIN is finding a number easy for you to recall but difficult for a stranger to guess. The number should not use meaningful dates such as birthdays or anniversaries, nor should it include any digits from a Social Security number. Repeated or consecutive numbers such as 1234 are also easy for thieves or hackers to guess. One method for choosing a PIN involves choosing a significant word and converting it to numerical digits, or storing the number in a fictitious contact in a cell phone.

Experts recommend choosing a PIN that is longer than four digits whenever possible, as well as changing PINs periodically. Also, different PINs should be used for different accounts, so if one is compromised, the other accounts remain safe.

About Nationwide Automated Systems:

Established in 2005, the company operates ATMs in casinos, movie theatres, convenience stores, and hotels in every major city in the United States.

How to Increase Your ATM Password IQ, by Nationwide Automated Systems Staff Writer

Question: How many four-digit combinations can be created using the standard 0-9 digits available for most ATM cards?

Answer: 10,000. 

Given this fact, many people might assume that the distribution of PINs would fall out fairly evenly, reducing the chances of a skimmer discovering the PIN to a random card. 

Nevertheless, nearly 30 percent of cardholders choose the most easily guessed PINs available, according to DataGenetics, a research group. Potential skimmers can crack this group of numbers by employing just 20 combinations. The most popular password remains 1234, capturing nearly 11 percent of PINs in use.

So if this is your PIN, experts recommend changing it as soon as possible. 

Next, avoid patterns. Straight or diagonal lines allow skimmers to play a kind of “bingo” game to find a password. ATM cardholders should also avoid repeating numbers.

Researchers also recommended avoiding even numbers. For example, users preferred the numbers 2468 much more than 1357. The exception to this rule is when the odd numbers appear to indicate a year. Thus, PINs starting with 19 may be easier to hack. In fact, PIN numbers beginning with 19 occur in the top-20 percent of options, DataGenetics found.

About Nationwide Automated Systems: With ATMs located in every major metropolitan area in the United States, Nationwide Automated Systems is the preferred vendor of ATM services for Hilton Hotels Corporation.

Nationwide Automated Systems Discusses the Benefits of a Turnkey ATM Program

A turnkey ATM program addresses the need for third-party provision of ATM service, repair, system monitoring, and cash replenishment. Many ATM owners are not capable of managing the expensive and time-consuming task of maintaining an ATM. Not only does comprehensive monitoring and repair require substantial capital outlay and labor, but also extensive technical knowledge that is typically beyond the purview of the owner.

A turnkey solution ensures maximum revenue flow and diagnostic services with little input from the business owner. Many providers of turnkey ATM solutions own all of the hardware and handle installation at the designated locations. Turnkey ATM programs remove the cash-supply responsibility from the merchant by supplying all of the necessary cash for each ATM in the program.

Additionally, such solutions oversee all operational monitoring and maintenance ensuring that the ATMs are operating at maximum capacity. They also provide customer service for ATM users who happen to encounter a hardware or transactional problem. As a supplement to standard customer service, Turnkey programs also work to drive customer traffic to ATM locations through a number of specialized programs, dependent on the service provider.

Nationwide Automated Systems provides ATMs to business in any environment, matching the décor to fit the atmosphere of convenience stores and supermarkets to luxury hotels. The company offers ATM placement and international payment processing services and shares ATM revenue with location owners through a revenue-sharing model. As one of the top ATM providers in North America, the firm has an impressive service record and is consistently rated an A+ by the Better Business Bureau.

History and Development of the Automated Teller Machine

Nationwide Automated Systems, Inc., through its Processing and ATM Partners maintains more than 20,000 ATMs throughout the United States, with ATM Services provided to such major commercial establishments as Costco, Target, and Safeway.

Although most people take them for granted now, automated teller machines or ATMs were not always so ubiquitous. Today there are more than one million ATMs around the world, with a new one installed approximately every five minutes. There is even an ATM in Antarctica, located at McMurdo Station on the continent’s southern tip. But as recently as the 1960s, ATMs were not only extremely rare, they were barely recognizable as the convenient and multi-functional machines that we have come to depend on.

Although the identity of the person who first came up with the idea of the ATM is subject to some debate, the man who holds the patent to the device is Don Wetzel, credited in the Smithsonian Museum as the machine’s progenitor. Wetzel was working as a Vice President at Docutel when he developed the concept of a cash-dispensing machine that did not require a teller. Wetzel asserts that one of the most difficult aspects of development was finding a manufacturer who could reliably produce viable magnetically striped cards in large enough quantities. Ultimately, it cost more than $4 million to make the machine a reality, a considerable sum for an idea conceived while the inventor waited in line at a bank.

After testing a number of prototypes, the first officially recognized ATM was established in 1969 at the Chemical Bank in Rockville Center, New York. This initial version could do no more than dispense cash, but within half a decade ATMs that could report account balances and perform other helpful functions were developed and installed at several major commercial venues. The ease and rapidity of ATM transactions rapidly surmounted initial concerns that customers would reject the devices for lack of personal interaction and fear of equipment failure..

By 1973, more than 2,000 ATMs, primarily manufactured by Docutel and its competitor Diebold, were operating in the U.S. ATMs proliferated so quickly that it soon became feasible to connect them to comprehensive networks, and in 1974 fully online ATMs, the true precursors of the modern incarnation, debuted. Today ATMs have become as indispensable to daily life for most Americans as cell phones or the Internet. It is only when no ATM is available that most people pause to consider what shopping and finance were like before the advent of this helpful device.

Nationwide Automated Systems: Should Your Business Have An ATM Available?

Nationwide Automated Systems provides complete turnkey, revenue-sharing automated teller machine (ATM) placement programs to most qualified businesses with a strategic emphasis in the hospitality industry. To help management seeking additional revenue streams, Nationwide can help.

Nationwide Automated Systems provides the following tips. The first two major questions you should ask when considering an ATM are:
1. Have customers or visitors been asking for an ATM?
2. Are at least 150 people or more visiting your location every day?
If the answer is a simple yes to the above two questions, an ATM is highly likely to put more cash in your customers’ hands, generate additional sales, and increase revenue for your organization.

Estimate how many customers or visitors will walk by your ATM daily. For example, let’s estimate 400 people. An average of two to five percent of viewers will use the ATM, depending on the environment. With a potential estimate of three percent, that adds up to 360 transactions per month. That alone, with the average cash dispensed being $80, will generate approximately $28,800 cash being dispensed from your ATM. Additionally, approximately 27 percent of the monthly total, or $8,000, will be spent by customers at your business. This percentage could be much higher depending on the type of business you have. Finally, you’ll be able to reduce the amount of obnoxious credit and debit card fees, while also providing an excellent, safe customer amenity and thereby building their loyalty.

The bottom line: an ATM will generate you added monthly income while putting more cash in your customers’ hands, saving you on costly processing fees.

Supporting the Fight against Cancer

At Nationwide Automated Systems, Inc., we are dedicated to supporting individuals affected by cancer and the researchers working to help them. Fortunately, there is a wide array of charities applying themselves to this cause, which can sometimes make the process of selecting an organization to fund a little overwhelming. Here, we’ve compiled a short list of the cancer charities that have received consistently high ratings for their dedication, efficiency, and effective budgeting.

The Breast Cancer Research Foundation maintains the unusual distinction of channeling more than 90 percent of their donations towards either awareness programs or research. It has received a top rating by the philanthropic evaluation group Charity Navigator for nearly a decade, and maintains an “A+” rating from the American Institute of Philanthropy. The Breast Cancer Research Foundation has been lauded for its success in fostering collaborative rather than competitive research in the scientific community.

CureSearch for Children’s Cancer is a national foundation that oversees operations for the Children’s Oncology Group, the world’s largest research collaboration. The money that CureSearch raises goes directly to more than 175 affiliated research hospitals throughout the United States to help them conduct clinical trials under the auspices of the National Cancer Institute. CureSearch obtains funds via private foundations, individuals, corporations, and special sponsored events. Contributions to CureSearch have become increasingly vital since federal funding for children’s cancer research, which has flagged for the past decade, was recently cut by another five percent.

The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation features an aggressive funding and research model designed to accelerate drug development for treatment of multiple myeloma. By producing widely collaborative efforts across a diverse portfolio of partners, the foundation has produced an impressive number of breakthrough results. The data obtained is uploaded immediately to a globally accessible portal to hasten its dispersion to scientists around the world. Recent innovations catalyzed by the foundation include the sequencing of the entire multiple myeloma gene by a panel of its research partners, producing information critical in identifying new treatments.

The Prevent Cancer Foundation takes a triple approach to its eponymous mission, comprised of education, research, and community outreach. Prevent Cancer funds 440 fellowships and grants in the field of detection and prevention, and has established numerous programs around the United States advocating screening techniques. The Prevent Cancer Foundation has also proven highly successful in its vigorous promotion of healthy lifestyle choices as a preventative measure against cancer.

Current Developments on Historic Vieques Island

In addition to its extensive portfolio of locations throughout the continental United States, Nationwide Automated Systems, Inc., through its Processing and ATM partner operates nearly a third of all non-bank ATMs in Puerto Rico. Nationwide Automated Systems has even established locations on Vieques Island, one of the Caribbean’s fastest-growing tourist hotspots. With a wealth of newly available and largely undeveloped space, Vieques Island is rapidly becoming a popular destination for travelers interested in both the region’s natural beauty and its fascinating history. 

Known colloquially as “La Isla Nena” or “The Little Girl Island,” the island was not colonized until 1843, when the Spanish established a municipality. Puerto Rico annexed Vieques in 1854. Vieques Island houses the oldest human remains identified in the Caribbean, dating to roughly 2,000 BC. According to local lore, the Taino Indians of Vieques Island were one of Christopher Columbus’ first points of contact in the Americas, and its name comes from “bieques,” their word for little island. Arawak Indians have also inhabited the island, and during the seventeenth century it was considered a notorious sanctuary for pirates and other maritime bandits. Additionally, Isla Segunda Fort in Vieques Sound was the last fortification the Spaniards built in the Americas. 

In 1941, the United States Navy appropriated two thirds of the island as a training ground. For nearly six decades, local inhabitants protested the Navy’s activities on Vieques Island, but it was not until a civilian died after two misdirected bombs hit the Observation Tower on the eastern shore in 1999 that international pressure finally prompted the Navy to withdraw. In 2003, the land formerly used for military purposes became the largest wildlife preserve in the Caribbean. Vieques Island has experienced comprehensive changes since the Navy vacated the area. Due to the lengthy military presence, Vieques Island remained largely undeveloped compared to the rest of Puerto Rico, and thus today its tourist appeal lies substantially in its wealth of open space and accessible, verdant beaches. 

The most popular destination for visitors to the Island is Mosquito Bay. Located along the southern shore of the island, this cove is home to hundreds of thousands of the tiny marine creatures known as dinoflagellates, single-celled bioluminescent organisms that light up the ocean waters at night. This astonishing natural attraction is carefully preserved by keeping tourists out of the bay’s water, preventing harmful chemicals like insecticides, sunblock, perfume, and other substances from harming these delicate and unique half-plant half-animal life forms.

Hello!

Hello and welcome to Nationwide Automated Systems Blog!