By David Rountree Advertising using ATMs represents a viable revenue opportunity, recent consumer research indicates. But pity the bank that makes its customers wait longer in order to pitch them at the automated teller machines.
Consumers say they welcome ads and coupons on ATMs.
Close to four in ten ATM users responded positively to ATMs dispensing coupons for discounts on financial services. Synergistics Research Corp. Synergistics Research Corp., an Atlanta-based marketing research firm specializing in financial services, talked to about 1,000 consumers to gauge their interest in various types of advertising delivered through ATMs. It showed that a significant number would be interested in receiving coupons for general merchandise via the machines. A smaller but still healthy number say they would be receptive to ATM-dispensed coupons offering financial services. Younger ATM users and those in lower-income brackets were most receptive to advertising and coupon dispensing at the terminals, Synergistics' research showed.