In a world of seamless technology and quick transactions, sometimes less is more. The latest demand for ATMs is all about flexibility and offering more services and capabilities than your competition. That being said, you need to package these features in an easy-to-use format that counts speed as a top priority.

After having multiple clients ask me about the difference between one and two slot ATMs, I decided to find out: What really is significant about one-slot ATMs and are you getting the right facts? Here are list of statements that I often hear – take a guess at whether they are fact or fiction.

1. One-slot ATMs aren’t battle tested and fail more regularly.

A: Fiction. Both NCR engineering tests and customer trials have demonstrated that the Scalable Deposit Module (SDM), with single slot deposit, performs as well or more reliably than other solutions in the market – including separate cash and check devices.

2. One-slot takes longer per transaction since cash processes more quickly than checks; and two slots allow for cash to process separately.

A: Fiction. While it is true that cash runs faster through a bill validator than checks would run through a check processing module, the innovative ‘dynamic deskew’ technology in our SDM allows us to keep all items moving at a consistent rate.

Any transaction conducted using a single slot module for both cash and checks will always be faster than a two module equivalent. Even though a ‘simultaneous deposit’ capability may exist, no bank customer, from a usability perspective, will ever insert their cash and checks at the same time in 2 different slots.

3. Checks jam more frequently than notes.

A: Fact. In our experience, notes jam less than checks, so in an environment where checks are more prevalent, downtime will be less.

Again, our dynamic technology reduces jam rates for checks by aligning them correctly in the transport and regulating their flow through the module.

4. Customers separate their checks from cash prior to heading to an ATM; therefore, making the need for one slot less appealing.

A: Fiction. From our long global experience of deploying intelligent deposit solutions, we can say that over a relatively short period of time, customers have become as comfortable with deposit transactions as they are with withdrawals.

Once they have built their trust in proven technology, they won’t bother to count and check everything before they make a deposit, making a single slot a customer-friendly alternative. Customers know that whatever they are depositing, it always goes in one place.

5. If you try to market 1 and 2 slot machines in a given area, you will confuse the customer. Banks are better to stick with 1 solution.

A: Fiction. Learned behaviors become habits and are sometimes hard to break. For this reason, banks tend to deploy on a market by market basis to ensure consistency of the consumer experience within a given area.

Customers use many self-service technologies: from ATMs and Self Checkouts to Airport Check-in and parking meters etc. With good instructions people are surprisingly good at adapting to multiple technologies.

6. The difference between one and two slots is great enough that it can create a marketing advantage for a bank

A: Fact. In today’s fast paced society anything that promises and delivers to be “fast”,
“convenient” and “easy to use” is viewed as a positive.

You may be surprised by these findings, but at the very least now you know six essential truths that should answer any questions you may have about one vs. two slot ATMs. I expect that moving forward banks and other financial institutions will increasingly look for speed to highlight ATM channel functionality and determine higher customer use so that inside branch consultants can stick to more profitable transactions than cash and check deposits.