"We all agree that our ATM is an extension of our business," he said. "So, if you walk up to an ATM, it says, 'Enter your card. How much money do you want? Okay, you've got your money now, goodbye.'"

"If you heard an employee talk to a member like that," he continued, "you'd show that employee the door, wouldn't you?"

Instead, ATMs should address members like a service representative would, providing personal, customized experiences that also cross sell effectively.

Windows-based operating systems can deliver that experience. Approximately 70% of all deployed ATMs run on a Windows platform, with Scotland-based software company KAL offering the most adaptable product for any ATM, regardless of maker, Edwards said.

However, financial institutions don't leverage the opportunities Windows-based systems provide.

"Most people go with basic scripts, but you can customize them and you should," he said. "Talk to Diebold and NCR, they can use words more favorable to your membership, more appealing and conversational."

Scripts can even be customized according to individual members, with the server capturing and saving preferences like fast cash default amount or receipt options. ATMs can also be programmed in a wide variety of languages, and credit unions can capture market share if they strategically add language options in ethnic neighborhoods.

"It seems insignificant, but little touches like that are a big deal. Think about it, we go to one or two ATMs most of the time because they're convenient, but also because they have the customization we like," he said.

Windows-based ATMs have also enabled new image capture and cash management services, which not only mean new gizmos for consumers, but also tremendous cost savings for institutions.

Image capture, which is catching on quickly with consumers, is expected to save 75% off deposit processing costs and 50% off handling costs for returned checks fraud items, he said. That adds up to an average of $17,000 annually per device.

"Image capture is a great product, and it's catching on like hotcakes," Edwards said. "And, we're seeing these ATMs dramatically reducing the number of people walking into the branch and filling out deposit slips."

Cash management options allow institutions to better determine how much cash an ATM requires.

"If you're putting $40,000 in a cassette and the average residual is 40%, on an annual basis, you're throwing $800K back into the vault per device," he said, "when you could have done something with that on an overnight basis."

Edwards also challenged the notion that joining surcharge-free networks is a more cost effective option than branding, suggesting that credit unions closely examine how much they're spending in interchange expense in specific areas.

"I had a client in New York with lots of cards in Long Island, but no ATMs there, so they were paying about $1 million a month for transactions," Edwards said. "They didn't stop to think that if they spent $150,000, they'd save $1 million. Even if you're smaller and working with expenses of $50,000 instead of $1 million, if you could invest $25,000, you'd still come out ahead."

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