Stopping The "Bad Guys" At The ATM

THE KEY IS CUSTOMER EDUCATION
Legislation has now been passed in New York and California, and introduced in several other states, governing the way we handle security at the ATM. Lighting, camera requirements, safety procedures, and contacts are all being spelled out by local and state governments. And, according to experts, this trend will continue and spread throughout the United States. The implementation of the Americans With Disabilities Act makes the problem of security at the ATM even more severe.

We now have to face the fact that in order to keep our customers safe at the ATM, we have to educate them on the use of the machine. It's not enough to sell them on the idea of using it for convenience-(to say nothing of the cost saving for the financial institution). We now have to initiate security procedures in order to protect ourselves from the lawsuit that could result from someone being robbed or attacked while using the ATM.

In his session at the American Bankers Association Security and Risk Management Conference in January, Bill Wipprecht, Security Officer for Wells Fargo in San Francisco stressed the importance of "foreseeability." If the fact of crime is foreseeable, then the financial institution is under greater obligation and accountability to take steps to protect its customers. If it does not, and a customer is injured and sues the financial institution in a court of law, the court may find the institution has been negligent in its duties to its customers. They have invited someone to come to their machine to do a transaction. It is responsible to see that the customer is safe while doing so.

In the movie "L.A. Story", Steve Martin's character needs cash for a dinner date, so he stops at a downtown Los Angeles ATM. The well lighted ATM has two lines, one for the "good guys" (customers), and another for the "bad guys" (bullies, robbers and muggers). Like all the others in the "good guy" line, Martin withdraws money from the ATM and hands half of it to a "bad guy". Then each goes nonchalantly about his business: Martin returns to his dinner date and the "bad guy" returns to line for his next victim.

Off screen, it hasn't come to this, but ATMs do attract a share of bad guys. It's been almost 20 years since the first ATMs were installed and there are now nearly 90,000 throughout the United States. Customers use them an average of 11,400 times every minute and 80 percent of all transactions are withdrawals-tempting statistics for predators.

Although the magnitude of ATM crime has been well-aired and argued by everyone from the Bank Administration Institute, the American Bankers Association, the Electronic Funds Transfer Association, financial institutions, security directors and special task forces, there is only one thing all agree on-the most effective deterrent to ATM crimes is customer education.

ATM customers should remember basic ATM safety tips when using an ATM.

In addition to customer education, the financial institution needs to take precautions and use basic common sense when evaluating their ATMs and the degree of safety at each location. Bill Wipprecht's figures were impressive. Sixty percent (60%) of recorded crime at ATMs during the study he reported on took place between the hours of 7 pm and 4 am. Only 11% of the total day's transactions took place during those same hours.

If you find the same pattern on some of your higher risk machines, you might be wise to do what some inner city financial institutions are doing, and simply shut down the machines during those hours. Marketing may not agree with the Security Officer here, but we must first address the safety of our customers. One lawsuit could wipe out any financial advantage of that ATM.

All the safety features we can install, however, will not do the job that customer education will. It has to start there.

(Ed. note-Our thanks to Bill Wipprecht, Security Officer, Wells Fargo Bank N.A. for his contribution to this article, and for the permission to use his "list" by our subscribers. If you wish to duplicate the list on the left, and distribute it to your customers "as is", you are welcome to do so. You may want to add your telephone number, logo or additional tips applicable to your area. Consider using it as a statement stuffer as well as a handout to new ATM customers.)

Copyright © 1992 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 2, No. 11, 2/92