Key Takeaways
- A reverse ATM converts a guest’s cash into a prepaid card, so an outlet can stop taking cash and still serve guests who carry it.
- Make the cash decision one outlet at a time. An outlet that keeps a till “just in case” keeps most of its cash-handling work.
- Several US cities and states require many businesses to accept cash. Have counsel check each outlet before you remove its till.
- Place the kiosk on the walking path to the outlets that stopped taking cash. The old ATM location is often in the wrong place for this.
- For 90 days after launch, track tills, cash drops, night audit variance, and payment complaints against the 90 days before.
Cash was 14% of US consumer payments in 2025, and 76% of consumers still carried it, according to the Federal Reserve’s 2026 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice. For consumers 55 and older, the share was 19%. Those guests will still check in at a hotel whose pool bar and market no longer take cash, and a reverse ATM rollout gives them a way to pay: a kiosk near the outlet that converts their cash to a prepaid card.
Installing the kiosk is usually the shortest part of the project. Most of the time goes into three decisions: which outlets stop taking cash, whether local law allows it, and what staff tell guests at the register. If you want a description of the device itself first, see the benefits of a reverse ATM for hotels and venues.
The four phases of a reverse ATM rollout
A reverse ATM rollout at a hotel moves through four phases, from the outlet decisions to a 90-day review. How long each phase takes depends on how fast ownership approves, what engineering has to run to the kiosk location, and how many outlets you change.
| Phase | Main work | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Decide | Cash policy for each outlet, legal check, ownership approval | Director of Finance, GM |
| 2. Prepare | Site survey, power and network, kiosk branding, signage | Engineering, IT, eGlobal |
| 3. Launch | Installation, staff training, guest communication | Front office, F&B, eGlobal |
| 4. Review | Compare 90 days after launch with the 90 days before | Director of Finance |
At most properties, Phase 1 takes longest. Several department heads have a say in it, and at many hotels the final approval belongs to ownership, which may meet only once a quarter. Set the install date after you know when that approval will come.
Decide which outlets stop taking cash first
The best first outlets are the ones where cash is expensive to handle and where most guests already pay by card. Pool bars, grab-and-go markets, and gift shops usually fit. Their tickets are small, each till needs a count at every shift change, and guests at a pool bar often have no wallet with them anyway. A room charge or card is easier for that guest than cash.
The front desk usually changes last, or never. Guests settle folios there, some groups pay deposits in cash, and the front desk often holds the house bank that supplies the other outlets. Many properties keep one cash point at the front desk after every other outlet has gone cashless, and that can be the right answer. Make it a written decision so that other outlets do not drift back to cash because “the front desk still takes it.”
A common mistake is an outlet that “prefers” cards but keeps a small till for guests who insist. That outlet still needs a starting bank, a count at each shift change, a cash drop, and a line in the night audit. The labor barely changes, and guests get a different answer depending on who is working.
For each outlet, record the decision, who approved it, the start date, and what staff say when a guest offers cash. You will reuse that record as the training script in Phase 3.
Ownership approval often happens in this phase. At some properties, management has to present the cashless plan to ownership before a kiosk contract can move, so bring the outlet list and your current cost of handling cash to that meeting. Your hotel night audit records already hold most of that cost data: cash variance, count time, and how often each outlet makes a drop.
Check city and state cash acceptance laws
Several US cities and states require many businesses to accept cash, and more have considered similar bills. Confirm the rules for your property before any outlet removes its till.
The laws are not uniform. They differ in which businesses they cover and which exemptions they allow. Ask counsel to read the text for each outlet type you plan to change, and file that opinion with your outlet decisions. A reverse ATM can be part of the compliance plan, but counsel has to confirm whether it meets the local requirement.
Place the kiosk on the path to cashless outlets
A guest who hears “card only” at the pool bar will rarely walk back to the lobby to convert cash. The reverse ATM has to be close enough to the cashless outlets that the guest can use it and come back before giving up on the purchase.
At a resort with one main cashless area, one kiosk near that area may be enough. At a convention property, guests move between registration, food and beverage, and the guest towers, and a single lobby kiosk may be too far from the outlets that need it. The common locations are the main lobby, convention registration, food and beverage outlets, and the valet and bell area. Our cash-to-card kiosk page for hotels describes each one.
Two practical checks usually decide the final spot. Engineering and IT need to supply power and a network connection without new construction, and staff at the cashless outlet need to be able to point to the kiosk from where they stand.
Train outlet staff, bell staff, and night audit
Guests ask the bartender or cashier about cash before they ever see the kiosk, so outlet staff need a short, exact script. For example: “This outlet is card only. If you’d like to use cash, the kiosk by the pool entrance will put it on a card you can use here.”
Bell staff, valet, and housekeeping need their own conversation, because a cashless property can reduce cash tips. The ATM+ kiosk can also break large bills into smaller ones, which helps a guest who wants to tip in cash. Explain this to those teams before launch.
Night audit and accounting need to know what changes in the close: fewer tills to count, fewer drops, and a new kiosk report to reconcile.
Tell guests before they reach the register
Guests take a card-only policy better when they hear about it before they try to pay. Include it in the pre-arrival email and the check-in conversation, and put the same short sign at each outlet and on the kiosk: what the outlet accepts and where the nearest kiosk is.
What to measure for 90 days after launch
Compare these four numbers for the 90 days after launch with the 90 days before:
- Active tills and starting banks
- Cash drops and safe counts
- Night audit cash variance
- Guest complaints about payment, by outlet
If an outlet shows no drop in tills or cash drops, it is probably still taking cash informally. Review the outlet decision and the staff script for that outlet first.
When a property should wait
A reverse ATM rollout is a poor first step at some properties. If many of your guests pay in cash, as some group, tour, and local event business does, start with one low-risk outlet and expand after the 90-day review. If ownership has not agreed to move toward cashless outlets, settle that first. A kiosk at a property where every outlet still takes cash adds a device and removes no cash handling.
eGlobal provides managed ATM and cash-to-card kiosk programs for hotels, resorts, and convention properties, including properties of three of the four largest US hotel chains. If you are planning cashless outlets, schedule a consultation and we will review your outlet list with you.