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Diebold Uncovers Loopholes in Bitcoin ATM Distribution Strategy

November 10, 2024         By: Michael Cheng

Diebold, a leading company the specializes in financial self-service solutions, revealed new insights on the future of bitcoin ATMs.

The group highlighted that such machines do not have the capacity to overtake traditional ATMs that offer a wide range of services and cater to mainstream consumers.

At the moment, there are over 400 digital currency kiosks around the world that serve only a small (but steadily growing) community of bitcoin enthusiasts and advocates. To perform other types of related transactions, individuals still rely on bank ATMs, digital wallets or mobile apps. Many are of the view that managing funds using multiple machines is a step backwards in the digital payments space.

“[Bitcoin ATMs] provide only one benefit to the customer, whereas the majority of ATMs have a number of different possible transactions and meet a number of needs,” said Devon Watson, VP of global software and strategy at Diebold. “I think it is fair [to say] that it is probably pretty difficult to be a one-trick pony.”

Based on its findings, Diebold hopes to dive into another realm of bitcoin that many financial institutions are speaking highly of. The VP admitted that the company is interested in blockchain-related services, which includes data security, smart contracts and financial transactions. Watson did not clarify if any pilot programs or tests are being conducted internally.

Diebold’s approach to financial technology-powered offerings has been very conservative. To date, the group has not launched a bitcoin or blockchain product for consumers.

“There’s a lot of interesting opportunity for permissioned systems in general, but there are other technologies, such as coding languages. We think that is interesting to pull into the banking sector,” explained Watson. “It’s still early, the tech is nascent and these are big complex projects where [those involved] will be risk averse.”