When ATMs were first launched in 1967, it changed banking forever. Over the next decades, more and more financial services were offered via automated tellers, from depositing cheques to paying bills, and banks relied less on staff and branches. Today, banking is facing a similar revolution thanks to FinTech and mobile payments. Now that you can deposit a cheque just with your phone (with cheques themselves potentially being phased out in the future), pay with your phone or the flash of a card, and handle most of your banking online, what role do ATMs have in modern banking?

The next generation of ATM will be focused on reducing banks’ labor costs. As consumers use less cash, ATMs will have to target higher-end financial services, such as video contact with bank staff, new bank card issuing, more convenient cash withdrawal, greater security, and potentially even investment services. These are just some of the technologies changing in ATMs to meet the expectations of the future.

1. Biometric Technology

Bank cards could easily be a thing of the past thanks to biometric technology that would allow customers to access their account just by scanning their finger. As futuristic as the idea sounds, it’s actually already being used in Poland and Qatar. Thanks to the unique patterns of veins in your fingers, biometric technology is highly secure.

2. Video

In addition to face recognition technology that could also help phase out bank cards, video will also help ATMs unlock a number of new functions, such as video calls with bank staff. That will help ATMs further reduce the number of expensive branches they need to keep open in both urban and rural areas. Reducing branches to ATM kiosks can significantly improve a bank’s bottom line.

3. Touchscreens

Touchscreens on ATMs have already been appearing and they will soon become standard across the board. Capacitive touchscreens need to be affordable and high quality, which is why companies like A D Metro that offer cost-saving solutions like the common controller, ready to operate on multiple screen sizes, are proving popular. As capacitive touchscreens become ubiquitous in ATMs, manufacturers will be looking for affordable, scalable capacitive touchscreen solutions. Cost-saving technology such as A D Metro’s is leading the way.

4. Weather-Proof ATMs

On-street ATMs have been around for decades, but a new generation of outdoor ATMs will likely include resistive touchscreens that are weather-proof and vandal-resistant. Touchscreen company A D Metro has now developed an ULTRA resistive touchscreen that can handle any kind of weather. That includes rain, snow, sleet, and sub-zero temperatures. For on-street ATMs, the screens are resistant to contaminants like salt and road grit kicked up by cars in the winter. With ATMs now on ski hills, better touchscreens are taking ATMs to bold new places.

FinTech innovations are proving to be a major challenge for banks, but the next generation ATM will be designed to reduce costs and improve convenience for customers. That’s how ATMs will survive the FinTech revolution.