Since the first case of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was confirmed in the United States in January 2020, life as we know it has changed dramatically. Social distancing, plexiglass barriers, face masks, frequent hand washing, the use of hand sanitizer and meetings via Zoom have all become the new norm.
As companies begin to reopen, how to adequately protect employees is on the minds of executives. In addition to following the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines for workplace safety, many companies are looking for creative ways to make their staff less anxious as they return to work.
ATM at Work: A Creative Way to Safeguard Staff and Add a Benefit
There are many advantages to having an ATM in the workplace. It is a convenient way for employees to get cash and do routine banking, it saves employees valuable time, helps workers save more of their paycheck with reduced or no fee transactions, but most importantly having an ATM on-site helps to keeps staff safer in our new post COVID-19 world.
For many employees, especially hourly employees, cash is essential. According to the latest statistics from the Federal Reserve, 42% of transactions under $25 and nearly 50% under $10 are in cash, and households earning less than $25,000 annually prefer cash to other payment methods.
Having an ATM in the workplace, exclusively for staff use, is a great way to ensure the safety of your employees and is a benefit your employees will appreciate.
Social Distancing & Disinfecting - With an on-site ATM, employers choose the safest location for the machine. The company controls other variables, as well, such as how often it is cleaned and sanitized. They can also limit who has access to the ATM, establish perimeters for social distancing, and provide guidance to restrict traffic as needed. Unlike public ATMs, the employer can directly monitor all of these procedures.
Cash is Safe: Viruses Don’t Spread Easily on Surfaces - Despite early information that came out during the pandemic, cash is safe according to medical experts and central banks around the globe. The CDC also recently stated that “the virus does not spread easily on surfaces” such as ATMs, although it’s still recommended that anyone touching a foreign surface wash there hands.
Time is also on the side of company ATMs when it comes to the transmission of any virus. Most viruses live on porous surfaces for no more than 24 hours. Its unlikely employees will touch cash that has been handled by anyone in that time frame. The cash withdrawn from an on-site ATM is most likely to have sat in the machine for much longer than the time any virus would be present.
Reduced Physical Danger - Beyond the immediate health concerns, an ATM in the workplace will also lessen the physical dangers that employees face using public machines. As life returns to normal, grabbing cash and running errands after a shift or during the lunch break is common for most people. An on-site ATM offers your employees more than just a clean environment, there is little chance of thieves having access to the machine and hacking card numbers. Also, more violent crimes - such as robbery - are dramatically reduced when using an ATM in the workplace.
Time Saver for Employees - Another advantage of a workplace ATM is the time-savings to employees. Hourly employees can be profoundly positively affected when employers provide an on-site solution. A recent case study conducted at a company in Texas demonstrated the impact. The Texas company employs 650-700 workers and has two full-time shifts. ATMatWork estimates that employees at the location saved approximately 400 hours on average each month. It was demonstrated to be crucial for hourly employees who only have a half-hour for lunch and short breaks during the day.
Saving More of Their Paycheck - With ATMatWork offering many surcharge-free options, employees and staff can save more of their hard-earned paycheck. The financial advantages of an ATM in the workplace for employees are evident in the study mentioned above. The Texas employees completed 1,325 transactions in the first month. While 517 of these were balance inquiries, which are always free, 732 cash withdrawals were performed ‒ saving employees a total of $5,480.66 in surcharge and bank fees. The employees had previously been using ATMs off-site before the installation and paying an average fee of $4+ per transaction.
As employees return to work, now is a great time to add an ATM for employee use – to ensure the safety of staff and provide a cost-effective benefit that will help to reduce anxiety and help staff save more of their hard earned paycheck.
To learn more, call at 866.440.4700 or email us at sales@atmatwork.com. We’ll be happy to walk you through the many benefits of having an ATM on-site for employees and the surcharge-free ATM options we offer.
