How to Increase Customer Safety at ATMs
William A. Hawthorne · ABA banking journal · 1991
Although the number of crimes committed at or near ATMs is small when compared to the number of transactions executed at these machines, the concern for ATM safety should still be very important. Any threat to a customer using an ATM can have a major impact on a bank in terms of confidence in the institution, adverse publicity, and the possibility of a negligence suit. Victims and assailants. The total number of ATM crimes committed annually is difficult to identify, because all incidents are not reported to one central point. Sometimes crimes committed at or near an ATM may be reported within a different crime category. ATM crimes range from verbal abuse of customers to theft following the withdrawal of cash to forced withdrawal of funds. Any of these can involve varying degrees of assault. Based on reported incidents, about 60% of ATM crime victims are women. However, ATM crime covers all ages, so there is no typical victim in that category. Criminals are usually males under 30 with previous criminal records. Because many customers withdraw small amounts of cash to meet their immediate needs, thefts at ATMs frequently involve amounts between $20 and $50. Making it safer. There is no universal approach to making an ATM area more secure. Each location is different and must be reviewed individually. But it's important to have a plan, a standard approach to assessing risk that is applied to each site. Conditions to be considered include the level of criminal activity in the area and the nature of the site. Armed with a risk assessment, a checklist of security measures can be applied-for example, whether to use cameras (and what type), whether to initiate customer awareness programs, and so forth. The beginning point for ATM security is the selection of a site. Although security officers don't pick ATM sites, they should have input on sites being considered. One general rule a security officer can insist on is that any exterior ATM be situated so it is clearly visible to people walking or driving by. Open locations often deter criminals from selecting them as a site for an assault, because any trouble would more likely be witnessed by people who could report the crime quickly. Further, when ATMs are placed in vestibules or other enclosures, the windows of the enclosure should be very large and be unobstructed by shrubbery or anything else, including promotional materials. A large poster advertising CD rates can offer cover for a criminal. In control? A bank should also consider whether it has control of the area around the ATM. For example, in one assault the criminal hid in a wooded area 15 feet away from the ATM. The bank didn't own the woods and couldn't cut down the trees. It should have considered its options before placing an ATM there. One option, of course, is to avoid the site. But if it is a perfectly good site otherwise, the bank may be able to overcome the problem by installing extra safeguards. For example, it could erect a seven-foot-high fence along the property line (local ordinances permitting) and install extra lighting. That would take away the criminal's hiding place. As stated earlier, the criminal history of the neighborhood and, more specifically, the level of ATM crime in the blocks around the site, should be reviewed. Identifying an area as a high-crime zone does not mean a bank should not place an ATM there. It simply means extra security steps may be required. Here are several: * Initiate a customer awareness program (more on this later); * Install surveillance cameras within a vestibule or outside. Note that while cameras serve as a deterrent to crime and can be an effective investigative tool, they can be subject to vandalism; * Increase the amount of lighting at the site; * Set up roving bank security patrols to pass by ATM sites in high-crime areas; * Consider installing panic buttons or emergency phones next to the ATM. …