It was in 1967 that the first automated teller machine (or ATM) was installed in a Barclays Bank in Enfield, Middlesex. Over 30-years hence, the ATM has become what is perhaps the most immediately accessible symbol of enhanced service in the banking industry, also of the greater control that customers have in the choices concerning the nature of their relationship with banks and building societies.

Mintel's report Automated Finances, the ATM and Kiosk focuses on the "hole in the wall" and analyses consumer attitudes and relationships with ATMs and automated finances. Previous Mintel reports have looked in detail at call centres and how they fit into financial services distribution channels, so this report only touches on the telephone as a channel. The Consumer section looks at usage and future needs of users of automated telephone services. Readers interested in a more in depth analysis of these issues are referred to Mintel's report, Call Centres and Financial Services, Finance Intelligence, February 2000.

It was in 1967 that the first automated teller machine (or ATM) was installed in a Barclays Bank in Enfield, Middlesex. Over 30-years hence, the ATM has become what is perhaps the most immediately accessible symbol of enhanced service in the banking industry, also of the greater control that customers have in the choices concerning the nature of their relationship with banks and building societies.

Mintel's report Automated Finances, the ATM and Kiosk focuses on the "hole in the wall" and analyses consumer attitudes and relationships with ATMs and automated finances. Previous Mintel reports have looked in detail at call centres and how they fit into financial services distribution channels, so this report only touches on the telephone as a channel. The Consumer section looks at usage and future needs of users of automated telephone services. Readers interested in a more in depth analysis of these issues are referred to Mintel's report, Call Centres and Financial Services, Finance Intelligence, February 2000.

The report looks at ATM growth, its geographical distribution, how it works and its economics. The report then evaluates the move towards a cashless society and how real that is, the function of the ATM as part of new channel management structures being put in place by financial services providers as well as the way in which branch banking is changing. Also looked at is the metamorphosis of this device to web-enablement to handling a wider range of transactions, as well as the development of interactive kiosks and challenges to the ATM in the form of the new "e" channels.

Some mini case studies explore the various experiments both in the UK, continental Europe and in North America - how successful they have been and what providers can take from them, and the technology that facilitates them.

Against this background, Mintel have commissioned some exclusive consumer research into UK consumer attitudes to the ATM and automated finances. The research looks at consumer relationships to ATMs and automated telephone banking. It thoroughly analyses the attitudes which will shape the attempts by financial services providers to manage their resources and their costs while giving the UK consumer the service he/she demands from a modern financial service provider.

This report will be of interest to managers responsible for the development and marketing of ATMs and automated systems, including the manufacturers and IT providers to the financial services community, as well as those studying the effects of the new distribution channels.

The ATM is considered as part of the whole money transmission area, including its relationship to the redevelopment of branch distribution and as part of an overview of the whole channel management structure for financial service providers.

Other Mintel reports of interest include:

- Special Report, The Internet and Financial Services

- Call Centres and Financial Services, Finance Intelligence, January 2000

- Money Transmission Preferences, Finance Intelligence, January 2000

- Education and Advice in Financial Services, Finance Intelligence, June 2000

- Special Report, The New Distribution Mix in Financial Services

- Face-to-face with Finances, Finance Intelligence, September 2000.