When you insert you credit or debit card in an ATM, you set off a chain of events, commands and procedures that take mere seconds to complete, and give you instant access to your own money. But whether you're withdrawing cash, checking your balance, or doing something a little different like topping up a pay-as-you-go mobile phone, the ATM has to work just has hard to ensure that you are given what you requested. But what exactly goes on inside the ATM while you wait patiently outside? Here is a very short explanation.
All ATMs work on the same basic principle and use similar software to give the consumer what they want, and for a number of ATMs, this software is made up of three different products: Platforms, Applications and Management Servers.
Another ATM management software that is less commonly used in the majority of ATMs is SafetyPIN software. As you might imagine, this software was created and installed to protect the user from fraud, and as such it is designed to alert the authorities, namely the police, of a forced cash withdrawal. The way this works is that a customer enters their PIN or Personal Identification Number in the wrong order, such as backwards when forced to do so. However, while this system dates back to 1986, when former US police officer proposed it in Congress, the system has not gathered a lot of support, and as such, it is only available on a handful of ATMs in a handful of places, contrary to popular belief, this software is not in place on ATMs around the world.
