Grow your business with Bitcoin ATMs

With bitcoin and other cryptocurrency platforms on the rise, retailers are incorporating specialized ATMs into their stores to stay ahead.

“There has been a huge growth in the deployment of bitcoin terminals in c-stores around the country,” said Bruce Renard, CEO of The National ATM Council.

Both stand-alone bitcoin kiosks and terminals, as well as traditional ATMs with the ability to buy cryptocurrency and take up less floor space, are winning, Renard said.

“I think the market is still learning about the best way to make this new, groundbreaking service available,” he continued.

ARCO ampm wants to start a national program of ATMs with digital currency. Ken Dharni, an ARCO ampm operator in Sacramento, California and the surrounding area, which operates seven stores, has already begun rolling out machines through a partnership with National Bitcoin ATM.

“I have (National Bitcoin ATM) in five places,” Dharni said. He also has one cryptocurrency machine with another company.

Dharni was attracted to the idea of ​​installing the new machines after the National Bitcoin ATM and others contacted him. Not only did he have the space available, but he was attracted to the commissions the companies offered him as an incentive to install bitcoin ATMs in his stores, and he likes that ATMs help attract customers.

After installing the new machines a year ago in his places, Dharni said he receives a commission of $ 295 per month from the National Bitcoin ATM to install the bitcoin ATMs.

At the bitcoin ATM, customers use cash to buy bitcoin worth $ 20 to $ 12,500 per day and send it to their digital wallet or create a new paper wallet, and receive a printout with the codes to access the transaction.

So far, bitcoin ATMs are bringing in a good amount of business. Dharni finds that location can play a key role in the success of ATMs in general.

“One site does it very well. There is no bank nearby. So it does almost three, four times as much as my other places, Dharni said.

Pops Mart Fuels, which operates 24 c stores in Columbia, SC, has also decided to expand its ATM features with Coin Cloud’s digital currency machines, allowing customers to access bitcoin, ethereum and other digital currencies with cash.

Lou Perrine’s Gas and Grocery, which operates two locations in Kenosha, Wis., However, chose not to install bitcoin ATMs due to large consumer fees.

“When these bitcoin ATMs require large fees, it makes the concept of crypto or specifically bitcoin less likely to have mass adoption,” said Anthony Perrine, owner of Lou Perrine’s Gas and Grocery. “So long story short, I will deposit a bitcoin ATM once they have gone through the kinks where some of the fees have been massively reduced.”

According to Renard, a brand new innovation that would be interesting to see in stores is a bitcoin gift card created by one of the members of The National ATM Council. “So just like you can buy a Visa gift card for ‘X’ dollars, this allows you to buy a gift card for ‘X’ amounts in bitcoin,” he said.

Renard believes bitcoin ATMs, or at least some form of the concept, is here to stay. The question for retailers to ask, he said, is the type of regulations that will emerge from federal, state and local governments.

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“(ATMs) continue to contribute to the bottom line both directly in terms of profits from ATMs, as well as in terms of putting money in people’s hands to be able to use on the spot,” said Renard. “The ATMs in today’s marketplace continue to be a very important component of the c-store scene.”

Traditional ATMs do not fall by the wayside with the rise of bitcoin. Lou Perrine’s Gas and Grocery’s ATMs are still very used and profitable. According to Perrine, the machines pay the salaries of two employees a year.

ATMs are advancing technologically across the board. Several ATMs today offer customers the opportunity to pay bills or cash checks. Some retailers use cash discount programs – which offer a lower price when customers pay in cash versus a credit card payment handling fee to recover card retailer fees – that encourage the use of ATMs.

GPM Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary of ARKO Corp., based in Richmond, Va., Is currently looking at such advances.

“We are currently working with a few partners who have new models that offer a range of services such as bill payment, direct deposit, no more armored car service required and of course the integration of bitcoin,” said Mike Bloom, Executive Vice President. marketing and merchandising for GPM Investments, which operates approximately 3,100 locations (1,415 corporate stores and 1,675 retail outlets) in 33 states and Washington, DC

Look for ATMs to play a bigger role in cash management. New methods of cash management include cash recyclers and smart safes. Depositing cash in the smart safe or cash recycler keeps the money safe, at the same time as the dealer’s account is automatically credited to the bank, and cash recyclers can also dispense small bills to make changes.

“And if you put (the smart safe) with a cash recycler and ATM, you can have it where it facilitates the ability to place cash in the ATM, but have everything accounted for properly,” Renard said.