Paul Alex’s ATM Together Review: The 4 Major Risks of an ATM Business

ATM Together is a one-stop shop that helps you create, manage, and scale an ATM business that creates semi-passive income. Created by Paul Alex Espinoza, ATM Together offers ATM and BTM (Bitcoin teller machine) done-for-you business services, a beginner’s masterclass, and an exclusive mentorship program. The potential returns of your investment with ATM Together to be $200-$1000 a month on ATMs and $1,000 a month on BTMs. You should put into consideration the foot traffic, marketing, etc.

An ATM business is a high-risk business that has the potential to create large profits or lose big. The downsides are the high upfront costs and ongoing operational costs, vulnerability to physical and digital theft, and strict regulations. An ATM business is also not completely passive. You still need to stock your ATM with bills and receipt paper regularly and keep it maintained. You can outsource the physical work, but it will further lower your income.

Paul Alex's ATM Together Review: Pros and Cons

What Are the 4 Major Risks of an ATM Business?

1. High Starting Cost - You need as much as $3,000-$12,000 to start an ATM business. An ATM costs anywhere between $2,000-$8,000. This depends whether it's freestanding or built-in, and whether it offers wireless connection, or if it’s brand new. You also need $1,000-3,000 for the cash deposit. High starting investment means you risk much if the business proves unprofitable. You can read the full breakdown of costs in the Cost To Start an ATM Business article. 
2. Security Risks - There are many ways that your ATM can be compromised. Physical security risks range from card skimming, smash-and-grabs, theft, etc. Your ATM can also fall victim to hacking and other cyberattacks. Filling up the ATM and having to carry a lot of cash on hand can be scary. Some ATM owners carry a gun for self-protection and bring a friend to watch over them as they refill the ATM.
3. Legal Issues and Regulations - You will go to a complete background check before you can legally operate an ATM business. Any felony or financial crime record with prevent you from getting approved. Rules and regulations vary from state to state, so it's important to do your research or consult a lawyer beforehand.
4. Semi-Passive - An ATM business still requires physical work. You need to refill bills and receipt paper and take care of maintenance issues. You can outsource the work in order to make your ATM business completely passive, but it will add up to your operating costs.

It is important to know these 4 major risks before deciding to start an ATM business. It's high-risk and the ATM business could be dying, so you should only invest what you can afford to lose. 

Who Is ATM Together For?

1. Beginners who want to learn how to start and manage their own ATM business. ATM Together’s masterclass teaches you everything you need to know.
2. ATM business owners looking to automate their ATM business. ATM Together provides hands-off ATM automated services.
3. Entrepreneurs who are looking for a done-for-you passive income business to add to their portfolio. ATM Together offers done-for-you ATM automated programs.

What Is ATM Elite Automation?

ATM Elite Automation is a done-for-you ATM business service by ATM Together. The service guarantees to make you at least $200 a month in just 4-6 weeks. All you need is a bank account that you can tie to the ATM and they will find you a location for your ATM within 30 days. Once you are satisfied with a location, a technician will install the ATM for you.

What Do You Get With ATM Elite Automation?

What Is Crypto Elite Automation?

Crypto Elite Automation is a done-for-you BTM (Bitcoin teller machine) business service by ATM Together. They will find a suitable location for your BTM business and have it up and running in 4 weeks. You are expected to earn about $3,000 a month after 6 months of normalization. Because of the volatility of the crypto market, there are no income guarantees given.

What Do You Get With Crypto Elite Automation?

What Is the ATM Masterclass?

ATM Masterclass by ATM Together is a 9-module course that will teach you how to start, run, and scale an ATM business. Created in 2023, you will be able to launch your business in 30 days with instructions from 6 ATM business experts. You also get 2 bonuses: BulletProof ATM Contract and AI Location Finding PDF Guide.

What Do You Get With the ATM Masterclass?

What Is ATM Hero?

ATM Hero is an exclusive mentorship with a done-for-you ATM business. The 4-week done-for-you service is similar to the ATM Elite Automation service. ATM Hero is exclusively mentored by Mike Saindon and Ruben Loyoza. The program can last up to 14 weeks to guarantee your ATM business is prospering.

ATM Together Reviews: What Do Clients Say?

ATM Together reviews online are mostly positive. There is a wealth of client testimonials on the ATM Together website as referrals is one of their top marketing strategy. ATM Together has no BBB or Trustpilot profile. ATM Together has had over 2,500 clients with 2,700+ ATMs and 250+ BTMs that has generated over $1.2 million in income. The following screenshots are some of their testimonials.

ATM Together Reddit Reviews

ATM Together Reddit reviews from clients have been positive. The reviews praise the efficiency of the team and acknowledge the legitimacy of the location finder service. None of the reviews mention their ROI or if they even got their investment back.

Who Is Paul Alex Espinoza?

What Are Paul Alex's Claims?

Paul Alex makes 2 claims with his services. He guarantees that his ATM business clients can earn $200-$1,000 a month from each ATM in the location they provide. As for cryptocurrency ATMs, Paul claims that clients can earn $3,000 a month per unit but does not give any guarantee because of the volatility of the crypto market. Paul’s claims are quite reasonable, but the question is, how likely are you to make these figures?

The High-Risk Nature of an ATM Business

Starting and running an ATM business is not a risk-free investment. Paul Alex himself mentions that an ATM business is a high-risk business model. The major risks have the potential to make your ATM business unprofitable. As for Paul’s crypto ATM claim, ATM Together actually buys the crypto currency from their affiliates for a lower price. You will be selling it at a markup of 15-20%. The high volatility of the crypto market means that prices can dramatically drop in an instant and make you lose money. There’s also the high risk of lacking customers depending on your location.

Is It Worth Starting an ATM Business?

It is worth starting an ATM business as a side hustle. Like Paul Alex, you shouldn't create an ATM business with the purpose of replacing your 9-5 income. ATM owners make $300-$500 a month on average. You typically earn $2-$3 every time a customer makes a transaction. You then have to consider the operating costs when calculating your profits.

Location and marketing are the biggest part of an ATM business. Name your ATM business to reflect the service you offer. The name should also be catchy and easy to remember. Finding a location with high foot traffic and no competition and having good marketing will ensure a lot of customers use your ATM. Most of the best locations mostly already have an ATM. You will need to spend a lot of time researching profitable locations.

Convincing a business to let you put up an ATM may take some negotiation skills. You can place your own ATM into someone else’s business by giving them incentives. Negotiating a location fee or share of the profits will make negotiations go smoother.

Top 7 Reasons People Fail the ATM Business

1. Bad Location - Location is the most important factor in running an ATM business. The lack of foot traffic or demand in the location means less customers and less income. Customers also prefer using ATMs in location where they feel safe.
2. Lack of Marketing - People need to know that your ATM exists in that location. You need to put up signs, distribute flyers, register on online directories, post on social media, etc.
3. Low Quality ATM - If your ATM is poor in quality and processes transactions too slow or gets errors, customers will prefer to use other ATMs instead.
4. Poor Service - You need to keep your ATM in top shape and respond to customer support in a timely manner. If your ATM is constantly down or out of cash, customers are less likely to come back.
5. Inadequate Location Agreement - A location agreement needs to be very specific and detailed to protect you from liabilities. If your agreement is not detailed enough, you may find yourself liable for accidents, disputed charges, etc.
6. Scale Too Fast - Putting up multiple ATMs in several locations without making sure of the long-term profitability is a high-risk move that could potentially lose all of your investments.
7. End of Contract - When your contract with the location expires, they may not want to renew it or even opt to put up their own ATM if your business proves very profitable. Maintaining good relationship with the location owner is important to your success.

Since you only earn whenever a customer uses your ATM, it all comes down to a number game. Simply put, if your income does not cover your operating costs, your business will fail and you will lose your investment. You also have to consider that word of mouth is important in an ATM business since a lot of those using your ATM consistently will be locals.

Local Lead Generation Is a Low-Cost Business the Creates Complete Passive Income

Compared to an ATM business, a local lead generation requires a lower initial investment and, as a type of digital real estate business, is completely passive. It costs as little as $500 in initial investment to start a local lead generation business. Using free SEO tactics and some paid tools, you'll be able to rank your website on Google.

Once ranked, your website will generate organic leads for people who are searching for specific types of businesses. You can earn as much as $2,000 from renting out your website to local businesses who will benefit from the leads that your website attracts. The monthly income is predictable and you get to keep 100% of the profits. With competition, you don't have to worry much about it in a local lead generation. There are hundreds of niches and thousands of local areas that you will only have a handful or even non-existent competition.

A tree care site I created in 2015 continues to earn me $2,000 a month of passive income and it's the same website I created back then. A site can stay ranked on Google for years without you updating them. This is the true definition of passive income. Scaling a local lead generation is also cheaper and simpler than scaling an ATM business. You just have to repeat ranking and renting a new website. There is no limit on how many sites you can rank and rent. Being an easily scalable business that brings in predictable and completely passive income makes local lead generation the best business model to create time and financial freedom.