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ATM Features

I was intrigued by this statement I read in a news article about ATMs today. I've used ATMs in France many times over many years, and I don't recall any of these features being available, although since I wouldn't use them, maybe they were and I just didn't notice them. Does anyone have any comments about this?

In Europe, ATMs commonly dispense minutes and ring tones for cell phones and spit out airplane tickets. Some countries use ATMs as foreign currency exchange terminals, trading dollars for euros, Justice said.

Posted by
8889 posts

Robert, Yes I have seen some ATM's (not "commonly") which dispense phone top-ups.
This is for pay-as-you-go phones. It works the same as if you buy extra credit at a supermarket till. You get a code which you type into your phone and your credit is increased. It would only be for companies they have agreements with, and not for foreign phone companies.
I have never seen a machine selling air tickets. Train (and bus) tickets are sold by specialised ticket machines, not ATM's.

Some countries use ATMs as foreign currency exchange terminals, trading dollars for euros

I have once seen a machine where you can feed in cash (banknotes) of one currency and get another out. It wasn't an ATM, it was a special machine. I imagine the exchange rate would be horrible.
Sometimes (rarely) you get ATM's in border areas that dispense a second currency as well. For example here in Basel, many machines dispense Euros as well as Swiss Franks. At London St Pancras station, there is a machine that dispenses Euros. I have also seen this at airports.

Posted by
3521 posts

Modern ATM machines can be made to dispense just about anything you want. Since I usually look for a Bank owned and operated machine, the additional features mentioned are rare on those beyond options like statement printouts.

I could see an ATM type machine at a travel agency office that would be able to book a plane ticket and then print out the confirmation info, but not an actual paper ticket, as something super simple to set up.
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Posted by
2916 posts

Modern ATM machines can be made to dispense just about anything you want.
How about a glass of wine?

I saw a machine in Ferney-Voltaire that cooked and dispensed pizzas, and one in Ancenis that dispensed baguettes. Oh, sorry, those weren't ATMs.