The ATM Managed Services RFP Checklist

Before You Start

Why Run a Structured Evaluation at All

Managed-services proposals are hard to compare by default. One vendor bundles monitoring into maintenance, another prices it separately; one quotes per terminal, another per branch; one commits to response times, another commits to 'best efforts'. Without a structured request, you end up comparing brochures instead of commitments.

A written RFP — even a short one — forces every vendor to answer the same questions in the same shape. It also forces your institution to decide what it actually wants before a salesperson decides for you.

Step One

Inventory Before You Draft

Vendors can only scope accurately against real information, and vague inputs produce padded pricing. Assemble this first:

• —Fleet list: every terminal with location, type (ATM, ITM, recycler), OEM, model, age and software version.
• —Contract file: current OEM, processor, maintenance, armored and telecom agreements with terms, commitments and renewal dates.
• —Incident history: at least twelve months of tickets — volumes, causes, response and resolution times if you have them.
• —Cash data: load schedules, average cash on hand per terminal, stock-out and emergency-run history.
• —The keep list: functions your institution intends to retain regardless of vendor — write it down before the first meeting.

Checklist

Scope & Service Model

Make every vendor answer these in writing:

• —Which functions are in scope, module by module — monitoring, maintenance administration, cash management, vendor management, software administration, reporting?
• —Can we buy modules independently, and can scope change mid-contract in both directions?
• —Are you OEM-agnostic in practice? List the OEMs in our fleet and confirm each is supported without hardware replacement.
• —Do you require replacing our processor, armored carrier or maintenance providers — or do you coordinate the incumbents?
• —Who is the single named point of contact, and what is the escalation path above them?

Checklist

Monitoring & Incident Management

• —What is monitored — hardware health, transaction availability, cash position — and at what frequency?
• —Who opens the incident: your branch staff, or the vendor's monitoring before the branch notices?
• —What are the committed response and escalation times, by severity, in the contract?
• —How are repeat failures on the same terminal identified and driven to root cause?
• —Walk us through an actual incident: detection, dispatch, communication, closure, and what we would see at each step.

Checklist

Maintenance & Vendor Coordination

• —How are first-line (cash, paper, jams) and second-line (technical) maintenance divided, and who dispatches each?
• —Which work is performed by your own staff versus subcontractors? Name the subcontractors.
• —How is parts availability handled for our specific fleet, including older models?
• —How do you track the performance of maintenance vendors against their agreements, and do we see that data?
• —What happens when a repair misses its committed window?

Checklist

Cash Operations

• —How is cash demand forecast — by terminal, by day-of-week, by season — and how often are load recommendations revised?
• —Who schedules armored runs, and does the model work with our existing carrier contract?
• —What is the escalation path when a terminal trends toward a stock-out outside business hours?
• —How is idle cash measured and reported, and what target-setting process do you propose?
• —How do you handle recycler-equipped terminals differently from dispense-only machines?

Checklist

Reporting, Governance & Compliance

• —What reports do we receive, at what cadence, and can we see a real (or redacted sample) report before signing?
• —Are the reported metrics the same ones your service levels are measured on?
• —What documentation do you provide to support examinations and audits?
• —How is our data handled, where is it stored, and what happens to it at contract end?
• —What is the governance rhythm — who meets, how often, against what agenda?

Checklist

Transition, Pricing & Exit

• —Describe the transition plan: sequence, timeline, parallel-run period, and the criteria for cutover.
• —What do you need from our staff during transition, in hours per week?
• —Pricing: what is fixed, what is per-terminal, what is per-event — and which line items commonly change after year one?
• —What are the exit terms: notice period, data handover, transition-out assistance, and any charges for leaving?
• —If we take a single module back in-house, how is the remaining contract repriced?

Evaluation

Scoring Responses So They're Comparable

Score each category the same way for every vendor, and separate three things that proposals like to blur:

• —Commitments versus descriptions — 'response within the contracted window, reported monthly' is a commitment; 'industry-leading response times' is a description. Only commitments score.
• —Included versus available — anything described as 'available' should be assumed to cost extra until priced in writing.
• —Evidence versus assertion — a vendor who shows you a real report, a real escalation runbook or a named subcontractor list is showing evidence. Weight it accordingly, and treat any claim no vendor will put in the contract as marketing.

Next Step

Start From the Inventory, Not the Template

The strongest RFPs come out of an honest picture of the current operation — which is exactly what a self-service channel assessment builds. Use it to draft the RFP, then hold every respondent to the checklist above. We're comfortable being scored against it; that's why we published it.