From PaymentsSource:
Bank of America is eliminating dozens of ATMs in two grocery store chains throughout the Southeast as it continues to scale back its operations.
The Charlotte company has been removing ATMs from Harris Teeter Supermarkets and Bi-Lo stores in June and July, Reuters reported July 30. Overall it will remove 36 machines from Harris Teeter locations and 25 from Bi-Lo stores.
Some of the grocery store ATMs did not allow deposits and were not accessible 24 hours a day. Bank of America is looking to focus on ATMs that are full service with 24-hour access and plans to add more in the future, Tara Burke, a bank spokeswoman, said, according to Reuters.
PNC Financial Services Group is picking up some of the locations that Bank of America has left with plans to add almost 200 ATMs to Harris Teeter stores across the Southeast. The Pittsburgh company is working with Cardtronics, which owns and manages NCR machines under a contract signed with Harris Teeter last fall.
As competition heats up in the self-service channels, many large banks are trying to differentiate themselves with the latest ATM features and technology and consistent 24-hour access at their own sites. AS such, some locations may be better-suited for regional and community banks and independent deployers.
Many of these non-bank locations are being serviced by mid-sized financial institutions or large, surcharge-free ATM networks, which consumers have become more aware of over the years. These points were made in two recent Mercator Advisory Group reports entitled “ATM Market Benchmark” and “Surcharge-Free ATMs and Shared Branching Networks.”
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