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When it comes to COVID-19 it's essential to know who’s essential

The government has labeled several occupations and businesses as essential during the COVID-19 pandemic. ATM operators are faced with the unique problem of being considered essential, but their equipment is locked inside a business considered non-essential.

When it comes to COVID-19 it's essential to know who’s essentialphoto provided by iStock


| by Pat Shea — Editor, NetworldMedia

There's a sign I once bought for a friend who had just been promoted that read, "You may not realize this but I'm kind of a big deal." We both got a laugh out of it, but isn't that how we all want to feel at our job? Don't we want to feel needed, recognized and essential to our customers?

Recently, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency or CISA, sent out amemorandum  that identified a list of businesses and workers considered essential during the COVID-19 pandemic. The memorandum stated, "If you work in a critical infrastructure industry, as defined by the Department of Homeland Security, such as healthcare services and pharmaceutical and food supply, you have a special responsibility to maintain your normal work schedule."  

No argument there. Hospitals, food service and supply, drug stores, gas stations and banks are essential to all of us as we try to live as normal a life as possible during this health crisis. Attached to the memorandum is a Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce: Ensuring Community and National Resilience in COVID-19 Response. This guide drills deeper and lists the specific occupations within essential fields such as healthcare, law enforcement, public safety, public works, energy, transportation, hazardous materials and of course, financial services.  

That's good news for people who own, operate and maintain ATMs, but what are they supposed to do if their essential equipment is housed in a string of facilities or stores that are considered non-essential?  

That very scenario is what many independent ATM operators are facing now. How can you be essential when you're virtually trapped inside a non-essential business? It's like knowing you have all the money you could ever need or want but it's locked inside a vault but no one has the key.  

What's the solution?

The stimulus package  recently passed by the Senate that includes SBA disaster loans is a good step, but will that be enough?  

If shuttered businesses are opened too soon we risk the further spread of the coronavirus. But if the non-essential businesses are held off much longer from opening, they may not have a business left to open and ATM operators ultimately lose the revenue twice; once when the business was shuttered and again if the business is forced to close. And what about the future? Will the ATM industry now have to take a long hard look at what businesses are considered essential in a crisis? Is it possible to continue doing business with nail and hair salons, movie theaters and sports arenas without worrying if your equipment could someday be locked away again if there's another pandemic?  

David Tente, ATMIA executive director for the US and the Americas, said he also had a few concerns for ATM operators.

"The closure of so many restaurants, hotels, office buildings and entertainment venues make a significant number of ATMs inaccessible to consumers, while still incurring many of the same expenses for the operator," he said in a recent interview. "ATMIA is hopeful that the proposed stimulus package will include benefits for those doing their best to maintain self-service financial services that our economy depends on every day."

It's a strange problem in an equally stranger time, and there's no easy answer. The only thing we can hope for right now is that the financial help promised by the federal government arrives in enough time to save the “non-essential” businesses many of you have worked with for years.

What do you think? Email me and let me know how your business may change after the COVID-19 pandemic passes. What new plans or safeguards are you considering? Let me know what concerns you have regarding the future of this industry. Email me at ATMEditor@networldmediagroup.com.

Stay safe wherever you are in the world. You're an essential part of this community.

INCLUDED IN THIS STORY

ATM Industry Association (ATMIA)

605.692.2263


The ATM Industry Association, founded in 1997, is a global non-profit trade association with over 10,500 members in 65 countries. The membership base covers the full range of this worldwide industry comprising over 2.2 million installed ATMs.

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Pat Shea

Pat Shea is the editor of ATM Marketplace. Pat has been an editor and writer in mass market and trade publishing for more than 25 years. She has won press awards for her newspaper reporting and feature writing in corporate communication publications.

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