In the 1960s and 1970s, in order to improve the service capability for high-quality and high-value customers and reduce the operating costs of banks, foreign banks proposed to hand over simple businesses such as small deposits and withdrawals and inquiries to machines and introduced self-service. The idea of ​​a cash machine, and a response from technology suppliers, led to the emergence of ATMs. After years of efforts by banks, people have begun to adapt to getting services from self-service devices instead of high-cost branch offices, ultimately achieving the goal of facilitating customers and improving bank economics. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the initial purpose of introducing ATMs in my country (China) was to enhance the modern image of the bank but did not consider too much from the perspective of improving the efficiency of banking services and economic benefits. After 1993, major commercial banks began to install on a relatively large scale. My ATM was installed in 1993. At that time, people were full of curiosity and mystery when they saw this “payment” machine, including the staff in the bank, but not many people dared to use it. People have experienced a decade-long process from being unfamiliar to familiar with it, from surprise to acceptance. Nowadays, people’s daily life is inseparable from ATMs. Especially in the past five years, the transaction volume has doubled every year. The role of the ATM is also based on the original image project and social benefits and has evolved into a real banking service means. A bank is an enterprise, and its ultimate purpose is to pursue economic benefits. To make this kind of self-service truly transform into productivity, it is necessary to conduct accounting and analysis of ATM operating costs.

<1>. Analysis Ideas By analyzing the ATM cost structure, the average cost per transaction is calculated. By comparing it with the average cost per transaction at the counter, it can be calculated whether there are more or fewer ATMs in a place, whether the layout is reasonable, and whether the benefits are maximized. Due to the different ATM brands, environments, and consumables in different places, there must be certain differences in operating costs, but the accounting ideas and projects should be consistent. Now make a concrete analysis on the running cost of ATMs in the bank where the author is located. We have 21 ATMs of four types of OLIVETTI, and the analysis is based on the date of April 2002.

<2>. Cost composition 1 . Depreciation expense: 3 ATMs were purchased in 1993 and 1 ATM in 1995, and depreciation has been cleared. 8 units purchased in 1999 were 180,000 yuan per unit, and 9 units were purchased in 2000 at 270,000 yuan each. Depreciation is drawn over 5 years, with an average daily depreciation fee of 102 yuan per unit. 2. Maintenance fee: Renewal is adopted uniformly, 11,000 yuan per unit per year, and the average daily maintenance fee per unit is 30.5 yuan 3. Communication fee: The monthly optical fiber rental fee for the outlets is 650 yuan, which is apportioned by an average of 4 windows, which is 5.40 yuan per day. In addition to the depreciation of the fiber optic transceiver and HUB, the average communication fee per unit is 6 yuan per day. 4. Site rental fee: The machine covers an area of ​​1 square meter, plus the operating site is 3 square meters. Calculated according to the city’s general commercial rental site cost standard, it is 2,000 yuan per square meter per year, and it is more reasonable to share this standard in the network. The average site rental fee per day is 22 yuan. 5. Decoration fee: the average is 10,000 yuan, which can be maintained for 5 years, and the average daily decoration fee is 5.5 yuan per unit 6. Vehicle security fee: Under normal circumstances, the vehicle security fee is estimated at 40 yuan each time, and the banknotes are loaded twice a week, each 11.5 yuan per day. 7. Personnel fee: On average, one man-hour per day is occupied for tasks such as clearing the machine and loading cash, handling card swallowing, and handling customer complaints. 8. Electricity fee: According to the records of an ATM equipped with an electric meter, it was put into operation in September 2000 and shared 1900 kWh of electricity from November 2001. From this, the average operating power is calculated to be 188W. This ATM is one with less transaction volume. Compared with the cash-out module, it does less work and consumes less electricity. Although the working power of the cash-out module is relatively high, the average working time of each cash-out is less than 10 seconds. From this, it is estimated that the average working power of the ATM should be about 250 watts, the electricity fee is 0.58 yuan per kilowatt-hour, and the electricity fee per ATM per day is 3.5 yuan.

Ribbon: about 0.6 yuan per day. According to statistics, for every 10,000 valid withdrawal transactions, one ribbon frame and 2 ribbon cores are required. The calculation is based on the fact that on average, each ATM of our bank has 133 valid withdrawals per day, each ribbon frame is 25 yuan, and each ribbon core is 10 yuan. 10. Printing paper: about 1.4 yuan per day. According to statistics, one roll of printing paper is consumed for every 900 valid withdrawal transactions. The calculation basis is that the average daily effective withdrawal of each ATM of our bank is 133, and the 13cm running water roll paper is 9 yuan per roll. The average operating cost per unit per day is 193.5 yuan.

<3> Transaction cost analysis: Conducting cost accounting analysis is a prerequisite for maximizing benefits and ensuring that ATMs have a good input-output ratio. Now compare and analyze the operation characteristics of ATMs, transaction fees, and processing capacity of ATMs and counter tellers. 1. It can be seen from the composition of ATM operating costs that most of the ATM costs are static costs. Even if no transaction occurs, each ATM must pay at least 160 yuan per day for operating costs. Increasing ATM transaction volume is the key to reducing ATM operating costs. 2. The current average cost per transaction over the counter is 2 yuan. The average transaction cost per ATM of our bank is 1.46 yuan, which is lower than the average transaction cost per counter at the counter, showing the advantages of ATM. Through calculation, it can be found that the average annual output of each ATM due to the replacement of tellers is 95,760 yuan, and the replacement benefit is 25,855 yuan. The above calculations do not take into account encryption and query transactions. According to statistics, the ratio between the business volume of withdrawal, inquiry, and encryption is 100:78:6.3. According to research and statistics, it can be found that the growth potential of teller transaction volume is not large now, and it is even more unlikely to double the transaction volume of tellers, but the growth potential of ATM transaction volume is very large. A notable feature of ATM transactions is fast speed. Withdrawing, querying, and encrypting a transaction only takes 40 seconds, 30 seconds, and 50 seconds, respectively, which is four times the speed of over-the-counter transactions. 4. More than 80% of ATM’s transaction costs are fixed costs, and the increase in floating costs brought about by the exponential increase in transaction volume is very limited. Moreover, the ATM can still be in service after the depreciation is completed, and the transaction cost will be lower at that time. On average, an ATM with the largest transaction volume in our bank reaches more than 593 valid withdrawal transactions every day. It is estimated that the daily operating cost of this ATM is 225 yuan, and the cost of each withdrawal transaction is 0.43 yuan, which is far lower than the cost of over-the-counter transactions. At the same time, it is lower than the results of foreign statistical analysis (the counter transaction fee is 2 to 3 times that of the ATM transaction fee). 5. Another cost calculation method: According to the internationally accepted ATM capital preservation operation calculation standard, it is calculated on a 24-hour basis every day, and the average effective withdrawal time is less than every 8 minutes to reach the capital preservation point. It can be explained in layman’s terms that an ATM reaches the breakeven point when it reaches more than 180 valid withdrawal transactions per day. According to this method, 5 ATMs of our bank have reached the breakeven point. Although this method is simple, there is a certain deviation regardless of the specific situation of the accounting object. 6. The above comparison is a narrow comparison because it does not fully consider the various benefits that ATMs bring to banks. For example, it can increase the number of cards issued and used, extend the banking service hours, and increase the amount of savings deposits through linkage.

<4> To further take advantage of ATM, I think the following measures can be taken. 1. Through optimization and adjustment of ATM distribution, increase transaction volume, improve economic efficiency and reduce operating costs. Of course, social benefits and other economic benefits that can be brought by ATM deployment should also be fully considered when adjusting the location. For example, after an ATM of our bank is deployed in an enterprise 30 kilometers away from the county seat, although the transaction volume is not large, the company’s corporate account and the employee’s salary payment account have all been transferred to our bank, and our bank does not need to set up in the enterprise. The comprehensive benefits of agency points cannot be calculated only from the perspective of ATMs. 2. The ATM management network will be rewarded and punished. According to the transaction volume, the reasonable ATM inventory cash amount is checked. Rewards are given to outlets and individuals with large transaction volumes and perfect management to increase their enthusiasm. Penalties will be imposed on outlets and individuals who fail to add paper and banknotes in a timely manner. Appropriate reward and punishment measures have a positive effect on increasing ATM transaction volume and reducing transaction costs.

First of all, it is necessary to strengthen the training of branch personnel, so that ATM administrators can start from the interests of the whole bank and the branch, and truly understand that the role of ATMs is to reduce the pressure on branch counters, not just increase the workload of ATM administrators. Simple businesses such as small-amount withdrawals, password changes, and inquiries should be completed by ATMs instead of tellers, so that tellers can concentrate on other complex businesses. Secondly, through various forms to promote the convenience and fast advantages of using ATM to customers, help customers learn and get used to self-service at ATM. 4. The size of the card holding group is the basis of the ATM transaction volume. The younger generation is more adaptable and proactive in self-service. As far as I know, many parents learn to use ATMs under the guidance of their children. We should not It is purely from the perspective of how much savings the student can have. If the Dragon Card promotion and self-service equipment use promotion activities are carried out among students, it will have a multiplier effect on promoting the popularization of ATM use. 5. Only by improving the level of technical support services can ATMs have a higher operating rate and equipment integrity rate. The total number of ATMs in our bank accounts for 20.2% of the local area, but the number of transactions can reach more than 65%, and technical support has played an important role. 6. It is estimated that the ATM can withstand an average of 50 withdrawal transactions, 39 inquiries, and 3 password changes within one hour. 90% of cardholders’ transactions on the ATM occur during the period of 8:00-21:00, so theoretically, the ATM can withstand up to 700 withdrawal transactions per day. In fact, it is unlikely that an ATM can reach the limit of 700 withdrawal transactions a day, because loading money, loading paper, checking accounts in the inventory, and maintaining and repairing all need to occupy the period from 8:00 to 21:00, and all cardholders also Impossible to have very skilled operation skills. In fact, before the average daily withdrawal transaction reaches more than 300 ATMs, you can often see the footage of queuing for withdrawals. When the daily average withdrawal transaction reaches more than 400 transactions, I think the convenience and fast advantages of ATMs are no longer so obvious. Install a second ATM. 7. For ATMs that have less transaction volume, but must be deployed in consideration of social benefits and other economic benefits. Other functions of ATM should be expanded, such as payment and withholding, transfer, detailed account inquiry, etc., so that ATM can be fully utilized and idle time can be reduced. For ATMs with busy transactions, other functions other than withdrawing money, changing passwords, and inquiring about balance transactions should not be activated, at least during the period of 7:00-22:00, so as not to overwhelm guests. 8. Improving the success rate of inter-bank cards in ATM transactions is also one of the ways to increase ATM operating income and reduce ATM operating costs. 9. According to the current card-using environment and the transaction volume of ATMs, 1-2 CRS cash recycling machines can be installed in the urban area of ​​our city, that is, ATMs with multiple real-time account deposit functions. This kind of multi-functional ATM can replace tellers to handle most of the banking business of the branch, especially it can handle the deposit business of the branch after getting off work, and can play the role of replacing a branch in some occasions. The upgrading of self-service equipment will also promote the use of other ATMs. According to relevant public reports, as of August 2000, China Construction Bank had installed and operated 6,393 ATMs, and as of the end of June 2001, 55 financial institutions across the country had installed and operated more than 49,000 ATMs. tower. With such a large amount of ATMs installed and running, if all can carry out operating cost accounting, benefit analysis, and take corresponding measures for ATMs with poor economic and social benefits, the economic and social benefits will be huge. Giving full play to the advantages of modern equipment can effectively reduce the bank’s human input, improve the bank’s work efficiency and competitiveness, maximize benefits, and ultimately achieve the purpose of facilitating customers and reducing bank operating costs.