The CEO of a your company asks you to design a new ATM for their Airport segment. What do you do?

Clarify scope:

About the company: Is this company a bank and wants to add ATMs at airport? – Yes

Is there any specific goal other than enabling withdrawals? – No, key is #withdrawals

International airport or domestic airport? - Domestic

Confirming ATM services – withdraw cash, deposit cash, deposit cheque, change ATM pin, check balance. Does this cover all services or are there other services also - This is good.

User groups:

Business travellers – have less time at the airport, may not have time, interest to explore the airport, may need only small cash, may mostly need cash withdrawal service

Vacation travellers - have more time at the airport, can wait, may need more cash, convenience is key

Elderly – have more time at the airport, need more cash, less tech savvy, 

Airport workers – May need other ATM services also – such as cheque drop, cash deposit, usually not short of time

Chosen user group: Vacation travellers  -  # of vacation travelers at airports is likely higher than the other segments, they are also those who may need more cash

Customer journey:

User needs cash -> User locates an ATM -> User takes out his card and scans it -> Enter verification details -> Pulls out cash -> Counts it -> Places money in wallet

Pain points:

(Criteria for evaluating pain points: Impact on #withdrawals, solvability)

1. Does not feel secure entering card verification details – fear of someone watching, airport is video recorded – Medium, High – P2
2. Does not feel comfortable withdrawing cash, airports are usually crowded – High, Medium – P1
3. Counting cash is awkward in the open – High, Low – P4
4. Does not feel secure with services around checking balance, changing PIN, etc – fear of someone watching – Low, Medium – P5
5. There is a sense of rush to do it fast, since other travellers may be in rush – Medium, Medium – P3

Solutions:

1. Deliver cash in an envelope when amount is high
2. Sound proof cash counting
3. App assisted withdrawal – initiate & verify on app, scanning card and withdraw in machine
4. Dispersement of currency in chunks for easy counting

Criteria for evaluation: #withdrawals, effort

Detailed design: App assisted withdrawal – initiate & verify on app, scanning card and withdraw in machine

• Locate ATM on map
• Step by step cash withdrawal wizard
• Stage withdrawal on app - confirm amount, card number 
• Swipe card on ATM to check for withdrawals staged
• Confirm on App on cash collect

KPIs

• # app installs
• #withdrawals staged on app
• #app initiated withdrawals
• % withdrawals in Airport via App
• #app initiated withdrawals/ user/ year

Clarify: Since the CEO is asking for a new ATM, this means they do not want to install a standard ATM, correct? Yes.

Where is the location of this ATM?  Is it safe to assume it'll be in the terminals for general purpose use? Yes.

Are we an ATM company, a banking and financial services, or an airline?  (This will determine future metrics.)  We are a bank.

Users in an airport setting:

1. Domestic Business Travellers 

2. International Business Travellers

3. Recreational Travellers - young families (I will group recreationals by age/family, rather than destination)

4. Recreational Travellers - young individuals

5. Recreational Travellers - elderly

6. Flight Crew

7. Ground Crew and vendors

Of the users, 1 2, 4 and 6 will likely prioritize convenience over value.  We will focus on them.

Functions of a traditional brick and mortar ATM:

1. Withdraw cash (in local currency)

2. Deposit cash (in local currency)

3. Deposit cheques

4. Check balances

Common transactions made at a currency exchange kiosk:

5. Currency exchange (cash to cash)

6. Payday advance

7. Pay Bills

Obviously 1, 2, and 4 are necessary for any ATM.  5 is traditionally a very high margin service (hence the airports have many competing kiosks).  We can further break down 5 into withdraw/deposit cash in foreign currency (5a and 5b).

3, 6, and 7 are unlikely to be performed at an airport.  3 and 7 are increasingly common via apps so it would be additional complexity with little payoff, and I think it's reasonable to assume that people that typically use 6 do not travel often.

If we think of typical pain points for our selected users, it typically deals with:

Carrying large sums of cash across security checkpoints - this is addressed by 2 and 5a

Acquiring large amounts of foreign currency for an international visit - this is addressed by 1 and 5a

Convert unused foreign currency after an international visit - this is adressed by 5 and 5b

If we rank the functions by T-shirt size for usage frequency, initial cost, and maintenance cost:

1. (L, M, S)

2. (M, S, S)

4. (L, S, S)

5. (M, L, L)

5a (S, L, L)

5b (M, L, S)

5 and 5a, which involve dispensing foreign currency, are inherently high cost in the long term.  There needs to be more money slots in the machine, frequent vendor stocking, and you run the risk of running out frequently (bad experience).  5b depends on optical recognition, so we should probably start with Euros and Chinese Yuan first.

Ultimately, this ATM would be a traditional ATM but with the added function of accepting foreign currency deposits, but the removed functionality of check deposits.

A sanity check to be made pre-installation is to verify if the cheque deposits are lower at airport ATMs compared to neighborhood locations.  

Post installation, revenue is tied to number of transactions (traditional ATM functions) and % of total exchanged currency (foreign deposits).  I would start by rolling out ATMs at the airports with the highest number of foreign flights in the international terminals.  If the foreign deposit grows over a period of several months to a significant % of total revenue, then improve optical recognition for other currencies, ranked by highest flight count.