How Free ATM Placement Actually Works
A plain-English explanation of free ATM placement programs — who pays for what, how revenue is shared, what to look out for.
Who pays for what under free placement
Under a Full-Service free placement program, the ATM operator (us) pays for the equipment, installation, paper, parts, repairs, and cash loading. The location owner pays for nothing.
The economics work because every cardholder who uses the ATM pays a surcharge fee, and that fee is shared between the operator and the location. Both sides earn — neither side fronts cash.
How revenue is shared
The free placement program pays the location owner a negotiated share of every surcharge transaction. So if your machine takes 200 transactions in a month at a $3.50 surcharge, that's $700 in monthly surcharge revenue — your portion is paid by direct deposit, with the operator covering the cost of cash, paper, parts, and any service callouts. The exact split depends on who loads the cash, who owns the machine, and the location's volume.
Higher-volume locations sometimes move to Merchant Cash Loading (you supply the cash float, you get 35%) or outright ownership (you keep 100% and pay your own processing).
What to look out for
Not all 'free' programs are equal. Watch for: long exclusivity contracts, hidden monthly fees that show up after a trial period, unfavorable cash-out structures, and operators who don't dispatch service quickly when the machine goes down.
Our program is no-contract and no monthly fee. If the machine isn't earning, neither of us makes money — so our incentive is to keep it running and place the right size unit in the right spot.