Teacher
Professional
- Messages
- 2,670
- Reaction score
- 798
- Points
- 113
None of us will be surprised by an ATM (ATM). Even people of the older generation have little by little got used to this device and are able to somehow withdraw their pension. However, among other things, an ATM is an extremely interesting thing from a technical and organizational point of view. Even employees of banking institutions (including those associated with payment cards) do not always understand the intricacies of his work. In my past life, I have been involved with payment cards and servicing ATMs for many years. I had the occasion to warm it up with a hairdryer and pick out from there piece by piece the blood of the intestine, which was stuck in an embrace with the bills. He even burned down one of the controlled ATMs. Twice. Therefore, I will share some, in my opinion, interesting technical nuances in the work of ATM.
Unfortunately, the main focus of my activity fell on the period when even a 0.3MP camera in a phone was a great luxury - therefore, I practically do not have my own photographs.
40 bills The
ATM dispenses no more than 40 bills at a time. This is due to the feed mechanism itself. Therefore, when withdrawing money from an ATM, if it displays “50, 200 bills in stock” on the screen, and you need to withdraw a large amount, you can immediately estimate how much money the ATM can give you. If you try to enter more than 40 banknotes, the ATM will think and refuse. And you will be left wondering why.
30 seconds
The response interval for each operation after the client's action should be no more than 30 seconds. This is a requirement of international payment systems. The client inserted the card - you can think for 29 seconds and give an answer. I chose a menu item - again, you might think. Etc. Before, when the connection was not very good, it was an important moment. Now - it's easier with this.
Supervisor's White Card
Yes, that's it. Comes with every ATM set. Like ordinary cards, it also has a PIN code and an expiration date.
Can be used with other ATMs as well. Here I cannot give detailed details - by mistake I used a card from one ATM for my other ATM and it worked - it should be that way or it works within the same processing center (processing center) - I don't know. Apparently it was necessary to go to the ATM of another bank and check. But I was reluctant to sit.
So - the card is required to perform cash collection / audit of the ATM and some technical functions - you can issue as many notes as you like from the <godmode ON> cassettes, open the dispensing door, blink with indicators and displays, etc. I entered the code on the card incorrectly three times - it is blocked until the next day.
Brain
In addition to the “system unit” (let's call it that), the ATM keyboard, the card reader unit and the display have their own brains. You can't just take and connect the parts of one ATM to another. When connecting new devices, it is required to enter 3DES cryptographic keys. They write to these pluggable devices and allow them to work with that particular ATM. Keys are 2 envelopes (like PIN-code envelopes for ordinary cards) containing a sequence of numbers. Two people each receive an envelope and enter the keys.
Cash cassettes
As a rule, there are 4-6 cassettes with banknotes in an ATM. The cassette holds ~ 2.5 thousand banknotes. Each cassette is customized for a specific banknote. Therefore, even if the cassettes are confused in places during ATM encashment - it will still be a chip in the cassette - it will not give out money from there. The reverse side of the coin - if you load fifty dollars into the cassette for twenty, then (with a fair amount of luck - if the characteristics of the notes are more or less similar) ATM will start issuing notes of a larger denomination. The cashier of the ATM and the manager of the cash register can immediately fork out and cover the shortage. There have been such things ... Rejection
Cassette
Glued banknotes, banknotes that the ATM does not like for one reason or another, as well as money that you did not take from the dispensing slot - are thrown into the rejection cassette. It is half the size of the standard one.
ATMs get cold The
outdoor ATM is 100% waterproof. However, it is sensitive to cold. In the early ATM models there was no package "Russian Winter" of heating elements, and therefore when the temperature in the yard fell below 10-15 degrees (frost) - ATM began to be capricious. It is especially important when the ATM is in the showcase and its front (inner) part actually also rests against the showcase and freezes. ATM may not turn on at all, because the diagnostics are outraged and require heat for the ATM (the hostess has a note: in order for the ATM to start, you need to blow a hairdryer on the thermal sensor at this moment). The mechanism for issuing money and other delights may not work.
Withdrawn cards
People leave their cards at the ATM. Sometimes by accident, sometimes - by entering the PIN code three times incorrectly, sometimes - you withdraw money, the voltage goes out - the ATM turns off and, as it were, everything ... will go outside - and if not you, then someone will pick it up, if you have time) or you go home, and the ATM will then take the card to you. Often no one asked for the cards. For several years we have amassed a hefty collection of cards from different banks. Incl. foreign.
Old ATMs
A lot of used ATMs were brought to Ukraine in 2002-2004 from Europe / USA. Here they were brought into a divine form, served and sold to banks. They were approximately 8-12 times cheaper (5-8 thousand dollars) of new modern ATMs (80-110 thousand dollars). They worked, frankly, lousy, but because the card business was still in its infancy and incomes were small (ATMs were installed not for their customers, but for strangers) - not all banks could afford new ATMs in the required volumes. Therefore, they put what is cheaper. ATM had old CRT monitors with faded emblems of European banks (previous owners). The kosher operating system for ATMs at the time was OS / 2.
ATM safe
It contains cassettes with money and a rejection cassette. As a rule, it is a safe with a key and a swivel wheel. The wheel code needs to be changed regularly. It is very unpleasant when, when changing the code and closing the door, you realize that the code does not fit and the safe cannot be opened any more.
Receipts
Printers used dot matrix (old ATM models) and thermal printers. Paper tape for receipts - in reels. Usually 2-5 thousand checks on a reel. The problem with dot-matrix is that it is difficult to find cartridges. The problem with thermal printers - when it's cold and you heat the ATM with a hair dryer - if you hit the tape of receipts with a jet of air, there will be a black tape.
Unfortunately, the main focus of my activity fell on the period when even a 0.3MP camera in a phone was a great luxury - therefore, I practically do not have my own photographs.
40 bills The
ATM dispenses no more than 40 bills at a time. This is due to the feed mechanism itself. Therefore, when withdrawing money from an ATM, if it displays “50, 200 bills in stock” on the screen, and you need to withdraw a large amount, you can immediately estimate how much money the ATM can give you. If you try to enter more than 40 banknotes, the ATM will think and refuse. And you will be left wondering why.
30 seconds
The response interval for each operation after the client's action should be no more than 30 seconds. This is a requirement of international payment systems. The client inserted the card - you can think for 29 seconds and give an answer. I chose a menu item - again, you might think. Etc. Before, when the connection was not very good, it was an important moment. Now - it's easier with this.
Supervisor's White Card
Yes, that's it. Comes with every ATM set. Like ordinary cards, it also has a PIN code and an expiration date.
Can be used with other ATMs as well. Here I cannot give detailed details - by mistake I used a card from one ATM for my other ATM and it worked - it should be that way or it works within the same processing center (processing center) - I don't know. Apparently it was necessary to go to the ATM of another bank and check. But I was reluctant to sit.
So - the card is required to perform cash collection / audit of the ATM and some technical functions - you can issue as many notes as you like from the <godmode ON> cassettes, open the dispensing door, blink with indicators and displays, etc. I entered the code on the card incorrectly three times - it is blocked until the next day.
Brain
In addition to the “system unit” (let's call it that), the ATM keyboard, the card reader unit and the display have their own brains. You can't just take and connect the parts of one ATM to another. When connecting new devices, it is required to enter 3DES cryptographic keys. They write to these pluggable devices and allow them to work with that particular ATM. Keys are 2 envelopes (like PIN-code envelopes for ordinary cards) containing a sequence of numbers. Two people each receive an envelope and enter the keys.
Cash cassettes
As a rule, there are 4-6 cassettes with banknotes in an ATM. The cassette holds ~ 2.5 thousand banknotes. Each cassette is customized for a specific banknote. Therefore, even if the cassettes are confused in places during ATM encashment - it will still be a chip in the cassette - it will not give out money from there. The reverse side of the coin - if you load fifty dollars into the cassette for twenty, then (with a fair amount of luck - if the characteristics of the notes are more or less similar) ATM will start issuing notes of a larger denomination. The cashier of the ATM and the manager of the cash register can immediately fork out and cover the shortage. There have been such things ... Rejection
Cassette
Glued banknotes, banknotes that the ATM does not like for one reason or another, as well as money that you did not take from the dispensing slot - are thrown into the rejection cassette. It is half the size of the standard one.
ATMs get cold The
outdoor ATM is 100% waterproof. However, it is sensitive to cold. In the early ATM models there was no package "Russian Winter" of heating elements, and therefore when the temperature in the yard fell below 10-15 degrees (frost) - ATM began to be capricious. It is especially important when the ATM is in the showcase and its front (inner) part actually also rests against the showcase and freezes. ATM may not turn on at all, because the diagnostics are outraged and require heat for the ATM (the hostess has a note: in order for the ATM to start, you need to blow a hairdryer on the thermal sensor at this moment). The mechanism for issuing money and other delights may not work.
Withdrawn cards
People leave their cards at the ATM. Sometimes by accident, sometimes - by entering the PIN code three times incorrectly, sometimes - you withdraw money, the voltage goes out - the ATM turns off and, as it were, everything ... will go outside - and if not you, then someone will pick it up, if you have time) or you go home, and the ATM will then take the card to you. Often no one asked for the cards. For several years we have amassed a hefty collection of cards from different banks. Incl. foreign.
Old ATMs
A lot of used ATMs were brought to Ukraine in 2002-2004 from Europe / USA. Here they were brought into a divine form, served and sold to banks. They were approximately 8-12 times cheaper (5-8 thousand dollars) of new modern ATMs (80-110 thousand dollars). They worked, frankly, lousy, but because the card business was still in its infancy and incomes were small (ATMs were installed not for their customers, but for strangers) - not all banks could afford new ATMs in the required volumes. Therefore, they put what is cheaper. ATM had old CRT monitors with faded emblems of European banks (previous owners). The kosher operating system for ATMs at the time was OS / 2.
ATM safe
It contains cassettes with money and a rejection cassette. As a rule, it is a safe with a key and a swivel wheel. The wheel code needs to be changed regularly. It is very unpleasant when, when changing the code and closing the door, you realize that the code does not fit and the safe cannot be opened any more.
Receipts
Printers used dot matrix (old ATM models) and thermal printers. Paper tape for receipts - in reels. Usually 2-5 thousand checks on a reel. The problem with dot-matrix is that it is difficult to find cartridges. The problem with thermal printers - when it's cold and you heat the ATM with a hair dryer - if you hit the tape of receipts with a jet of air, there will be a black tape.
