ATM Disposable Cash Calculation for Overdraft Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automated banking machines (ATMs) do not effectively minimize the risk of checks and automatic payments being refused due to insufficient funds, as they do not account for upcoming debits and credits when dispensing cash, leading to potential overdrafts.
Innovation Solution
An ATM system that calculates and displays a 'disposable cash' amount by subtracting expected future debits from the current account balance, allowing users to withdraw this amount or a portion of it without requiring further input, thereby minimizing the risk of overdrafts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the ATM allows customers to withdraw cash based on current account balance, then the customer can satisfy short term financial needs, but the account may have insufficient funds to cover upcoming debits such as checks and automatic payments
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by calculating the disposable cash amount before the customer makes a withdrawal decision. It subtracts upcoming debits (checks, automatic payments) from the current account balance to determine the maximum safe withdrawal amount, ensuring sufficient funds remain for future obligations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides feedback to the customer by displaying the disposable cash amount, which reflects the actual available funds after accounting for upcoming transactions. This feedback enables the customer to make informed withdrawal decisions that prevent insufficient funds situations.
2Ease of operation
If the ATM displays only the current account balance, then the information is simple and easy to understand, but it does not provide sufficient information for customers to make informed withdrawal decisions
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the critical information needed for withdrawal decision-making by displaying the disposable cash amount. It separates this key metric from other account details, presenting it prominently to guide customer decisions without overwhelming them with unnecessary data.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transforms the raw account balance data into a more meaningful parameter - the disposable cash amount. This parameter change converts a static balance figure into a dynamic value that reflects actual withdrawal capacity considering future obligations.
Data Source
AI summary
An ATMemo arrangement is disclosed. The arrangement allows an ATM to present a person's own reminder memo to that person. A personal memo is authored by an ATMemo customer with a personal computer and then the memo is stored at a remote data store. The data store is accessible by an ATM network. The stored memo is associated with the customer and a display period. Any ATM in the network is operative to display the memo to the customer. Display of a stored memo at an ATM is based on valid customer identification, the memo's display period, and the current date. The ATM accesses and displays the memo if both the ATM customer ID matches the memo author ID and the current date is within the time period for displaying the memo. The ATM can also print the memo on a transaction receipt.