Answer
What power and internet does an ATM need?
This is the question that decides whether a position works, and the answer is simpler than most venue managers expect. No special wiring, no dedicated internet service, and no IT work on your side.
Most enquiries receive a response within 3 hours during business hours.
Short answer
What power and internet does an ATM need?
An ATM runs from a standard Australian 240V 10A power point and draws roughly the same power as a desktop computer. Connectivity is provided by the operator: a 4G modem inside the machine in most installs, or a fixed line or a segregated port on the venue's existing network where signal is poor. The venue supplies a power point within about two metres of the machine; it does not supply internet, an IP address or any IT configuration.
Power
The electrical requirement in plain terms
A retail ATM plugs into an ordinary power point. There is no three-phase requirement and no special outlet. What matters is not the amount of power but the quality of the circuit: the machine should not share an outlet with equipment that causes voltage dips or surges when it cycles.
In practice that rules out sharing a point with refrigeration, coffee machines, kitchen equipment or gaming machines. A clean general-power-outlet circuit is enough, and where the only nearby point is a shared one, an electrician adds a dedicated outlet — a short job, quoted before the install is booked.
| Requirement | Standard free-standing ATM | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Supply | 240V AC, standard 10A outlet | No dedicated circuit needed in most venues |
| Draw | Comparable to a desktop PC and monitor | Rises briefly while dispensing |
| Outlet distance | Within roughly 2 metres of the machine | Extension leads are not used on a permanent install |
| Circuit sharing | Avoid refrigeration, kitchen and gaming circuits | Voltage dips cause avoidable faults |
| Switching off overnight | Not recommended | Machines are left powered so monitoring stays live |
| UPS | Optional, operator supplied where needed | Used on sites with frequent brief outages |
Definition
What 'connectivity' means for an ATM
ATM connectivity is the data path that carries an authorisation request from the machine to a payments switch and returns an approval or decline. It is a small amount of traffic — a few kilobytes per transaction — but it must be reliable and it must be secure, because card data travels over it.
Because the requirement is security rather than bandwidth, an ATM is never simply joined to a venue's guest Wi-Fi. It uses its own connection, or a physically separated port, so the venue's network and the payment path stay independent of each other.
| Connection type | How it works | Best suited to | Who provides it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4G modem in the machine | Own SIM and data plan inside the cabinet | Most installs, including leased tenancies | Operator |
| Fixed line / ADSL-NBN service | Dedicated service to the machine | Basement or shielded positions with poor signal | Operator, with venue access |
| Segregated port on venue network | Isolated VLAN or separate port, never guest Wi-Fi | Shopping centres and larger sites with IT support | Venue port, operator configuration |
| Wi-Fi | Not used for card authorisation | n/a | n/a |
In practice
What most Australian installs actually use
In the overwhelming majority of Australian installs the machine brings its own 4G connection and the venue is not involved in connectivity at all. Signal strength at the exact position is checked during the site assessment, which is why the assessment happens before a position is agreed.
Outages
What happens when power or data drops
The important point for a venue is that an outage is an availability problem, not a security or liability problem. A machine that cannot reach the switch declines rather than guesses, and the cash inside a locked safe is the operator's, not the venue's.
- Power outage: the machine stops dispensing and holds its state. Cash and cassettes stay locked inside the safe.
- Data outage: the machine declines transactions rather than approving them offline, so no unauthorised withdrawal is possible.
- Monitoring: both conditions raise an alert to the operator, usually before anyone in the venue notices.
- Recovery: the machine returns to service by itself once supply or signal returns; no staff action is normally needed.
- Repeat outages: a UPS or an alternative connection path is fitted at the operator's cost where a site has a known pattern.
Position
How power and signal shape where the machine goes
Position is agreed from four inputs: customer sight lines, queueing room, keypad privacy and CCTV coverage — then constrained by where a suitable power point exists and where the signal is adequate. When those pull in different directions, adding an outlet is usually cheaper and faster than compromising on visibility, because a machine customers do not see is a machine that does not trade.
Sites with genuinely difficult conditions — basement gaming rooms, thick-walled heritage buildings, underground car parks — are still workable. They simply move from the 4G default to a fixed line or a segregated port, which is decided at the assessment rather than discovered on install day.
Venue checklist
What the venue provides, and what it never has to
The venue's genuine ongoing cost of hosting an ATM is the electricity it draws, which is a few dollars a month. Everything else — the machine, the cash, the connection, the servicing and the compliance — sits with the operator under a free placement agreement.
| Item | Venue provides | Operator provides |
|---|---|---|
| 240V power point within 2m | Yes | Advice on suitability |
| Internet service for the ATM | No | Yes — 4G, fixed line or configuration |
| IP address or IT configuration | No | Yes |
| Floor or wall for anchoring | Yes | Anchoring hardware and labour |
| Landlord consent for fixing | Yes, where the lease requires it | Documentation to support the request |
| Electrical work for a new outlet | Arranged, or quoted through us | Coordination with the install |
| Ongoing power cost | Yes — small, comparable to a PC | Everything else about running the machine |
FAQs
Questions people ask
Usually not. A standard 240V 10A outlet is enough, provided it is not shared with equipment that causes voltage dips, such as refrigeration, kitchen or gaming machines. Where only a shared point is available, an electrician adds a dedicated outlet before the install.
In most installs, no. The machine carries its own 4G connection with its own SIM. Where signal is poor, a fixed line or a physically separated port on your network is used instead — never guest Wi-Fi, and never a shared office connection without segregation.
Roughly what a desktop computer and monitor use, with a brief rise while dispensing notes. For a venue that is a few dollars a month, and it is the only running cost a venue carries under free placement.
It stays locked inside the safe. The machine stops dispensing, holds its state, raises an alert to the operator, and returns to service automatically when power comes back. The cash inside is the operator's, not the venue's.
No. Every withdrawal has to be authorised in real time, so a machine with no data path declines transactions rather than approving them. That is a deliberate safeguard, and it is why connectivity is checked at the exact position during the site assessment.
No. Machines are left powered so monitoring, software updates and fault detection keep working overnight. Access to the machine can be restricted by locking the area without powering the unit down.
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Keep reading
Related pages
- Free ATM placementWhat free placement covers, who qualifies and how the revenue share works.
- ATM installation in AustraliaThe full installation guide: siting, power, anchoring and commissioning.
- ATM surcharge fees explainedHow the withdrawal surcharge is set, disclosed and shared.
- How ATMcash worksThe model, who pays for what, and how a venue earns.
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