Research Paper: Topic and Sources

For my research paper I choose to write about if ATMs are an expensive habit? Before the invention of ATM’s people visited banks to do their banking. It was common to see long lines of people standing outside in the morning waiting for it to open. Now with the invention of Automated Teller Machines, ATMs have decreed the wait at the banks and allowed people to make transactions fast. In addition, allowing anyone to perform almost every transaction that you can inside of the bank. In the article, “World Automated Teller Machines Market 2010” authors, Frost and Sullivan expressed, “The ATM has revolutionized the customers' banking experience, in particular, the transactions in which they withdraw cash from their accounts.” Customers can view their accounts from any ATM. However, there probably always going to be human tellers, but ATMs have provided a certain amount of convenience designed to accommodate customers.
With the continuous access to your money threw a debit or credit card is making it easy for people to over spend. ATMs are everywhere, there are at malls, in grocery stores, and even in front of bookstores. In the article, “Are there too many ATMs?” by Bob Sullivan, author Sullivan states, “If it seems like there are neon ATM cash machine signs everywhere, well, there are. In fact, there's 370,000 automated teller machines across the United States right now, about 1 for every 296 people.” Anyplace you visit in the distance stands on ATM machine. No wonder bank customers are becoming addicted to instant cash through ATMs.
ATMs provide conveniences, and convenience almost always has a price tag. For instead, using an ATM that convenient but doesn’t belong to your bank, will accumulate into fees that drain your account dry. In fact, it’s a common story, everybody knows someone that is stuck in credit card debit or who always have that urge to spend money. In the article “Money Machines” author Ellen Florian states, “Clearly we love the feel of cold hard cash in our hands as much as plastic. So much so that we're willing to pay for those quickie stops at the ATM with often usurious fees--usually about $1.50 each time we grudgingly press the "I Accept" button on a cash machine outside our bank's network.” Now that anyone can get money by a press of a button, it bought on impulse instead of planning every purchase ahead of time.
The ATM also provided new ways for scam artists to commit fraud. Some scam artists have attached skimmers to ATMS. This is a device which can steal a debit card user's information when they insert their card. Other ways fraud can be committed is identify theft. Where someone steals you identify and have the banks send credit cards to the scam artists’ address or even put a gun to someone’s head and demand money as they are using an ATM. In the article “Can you trust that latent hunk of cash-dispensing steel?” author Phil Patton explains, “Experts naturally believe that the answer to ATM abuse lies in more and more sophisticated encryption devices (some have offered fingerprint readers or retinal scanners as suggested identification technology). The PIN system has an advantage of keeping the "key" to an account in two parts - half in hardware, half in wetware. Any system that relies on a single device, however cleverly encrypted, is a less secure system.” In result of fraud, the victim falls into a finical hole. It make sense, every time you swipe, enter or push a card into an ATM your chances for a scam artist to find your personal information increases.