Cashloading Your ATM: What you need to know

We are often confronted with questions about vault-cashing, also called “cash-loading” your ATM. How do you get the money back that your ATM dispenses? Is there a certain amount that you must place in your ATM? Can my ATM be programmed to dispense other bill amounts? These as well as many other important questions will be addressed in this blog.

How you get back the money once the ATM dispenses cash:

If you are planning to invest your hard-earned money into your ATM then I am sure the first thing you would want to know is how you get back that money once the ATM dispenses cash. When someone uses your ATM, they are basically accessing their account to get an overnight loan from your ATM. This is where the surcharge fee in comes into play. That fee is one of the many factors that determine how profitable your ATM will be for you. Each ATM is set-up with a terminal ID and a bank account of your choosing. When someone takes money out of your ATM, the banking networks know what the machine did through these numbers. It is also how the banking networks know which account to put your money back into the next business day. Typically, the amount taken out of the ATM on holidays or the weekend is deposited back when the bank opens again. So, your deposits on Monday will typically be higher and contain Friday, Saturday, and Sunday transactions.

ATM cash amounts:

Another important question that we typically are asked concerning vault cash consists of the amount you put into your ATM machine. The answer to this question is no, there is not a certain amount that you must put in your ATM to have it fully functioning. This all comes down to you. It is your preference. Some of the customers we have only load a few hundred dollars at a time and others load thousands at a time. If you have a location that does not have a great deal of transactions or do not mind refilling the ATM every time it empties, then loading a small amount of money may be better for your business than a larger amount. There are some restrictions when it comes to vault cash, however. Each cassette contained in the ATM typically holds 1,000 notes, so $20,000 max if dispensing 20’s.

Multiple bill denominations:

Which brings us to our final question, can my ATM be programmed to dispense other bill amounts? Your ATM can dispense any bill amount you wish it to such as 5’s, 10’s, 20’s, etc. There is however only one denomination allowed for each cassette in the ATM. So, for an ATM to dispense 10’s and 20’s you must purchase an additional cassette for each additional denomination. Using these guidelines and a “crystal ball” to predict what your ATM will do can help you better ready yourself for loading your own ATM. Afterall, only you know what works best for you.