I originally thought of outdoor sidewalk ATMs as a joke from the movie ‘Barbershop’ (where the crooks dump a stolen ATM on a sidewalk outside a store and people line up to use it), however I realized that I pass an outdoor sidewalk ATM almost everyday, built into the front wall of a bank on a busy road (it is open to the air, protected solely by a small canopy above it, and since this is beautiful downtown Long Island NY, it gets all kinds of weather). Somehow this seems like a bad idea to me (the area is a bit iffy), but since I usually see people lined up to use it, I guess I’m wrong.
I don’t see other walk-up outdoor sidewalk ATMs around, possibly because I am oblivious - it seems almost all other walk-up ATMs are located in the bank lobby (use your card to unlock the lobby door) - I add the caveat walk-up because the many drive-thru bank ATMs around here are outdoors by necessity, albiet under more substantial structures.
Are outdoor ATMs on the sidewalk without enclosures common in other parts of the US (or other countries)?
Yes, I have seen them in many places in North America and Asia.
In Norway very common - the vast majority I should recon. Only a very few are housed completely inside buildings. They are supposed to be reacheable for 24 hrs after all. They are, however, almost always built into walls of banks, or other businesses whom I guess have a deal with the bank. There are some that are completely stand alone, but those are generally found in malls and such, with plenty of people around, so little chance of a group of hoodlums carrying one off.
ETA: Also, very common around Europe as from travel experiences.
Where I grew up in California, outdoor ATMs are the norm. I live in Michigan now and when I first moved to the Midwest, I was surprised to see how much more stuff that I’m used to seeing outdoors are indoors here. For instance, in California, shopping carts are kept outdoors, and here in the Midwest, they’re kept in a foyer inside the supermarket.
But there are still plenty of outdoor ATMs around. I know of a couple indoor ones in town, but the rest are all on the street.
Off the top of my head, I can think of two places I’ve been where there seemed to be more indoor than outdoor ATMs: India and Colombia. To get in, you just need to have a valid ATM card that you can swipe, so it was no big deal at night.
Here they are mostly a part of a building, even if they are right up next to the sidewalk for convenience. There are also stand-alones found in bank parking lots, completely unattached to the building, which are meant for drive through but can be walk-up.
My college campus had totally free-standing outdoor ATMs back in 1994, nowhere near the bank they’re connected with. Looks to me like it’s still there. Chicago burbs.
And the free-standing ones near banks (like the drive-through), but not physically attached to them, are completely common in the Chicago area.
They’re common in Australia.
Most ATMs are like that in the UK too.
Extremely common in New Zealand – ones inside lobbies or special contained areas are much rarer. Many are built into walls, freestanding ones are generally inside malls. Also find some inside gas stations now.
There a google street view (I hope) of ATMs built into the front of a bank in the CBD of Auckland ity.
I’m in a small town in Montana (population just over 2,000), and there are at least three outdoor ATMs within two blocks of me right now.
In Sweden outdoors are the norm. I have never seen any freestanding though, always built in to a wall. Rumour has it that the money is kept in a vault in the building or the basement and is transported to the ATM when someone makes a withdrawal.
Outdoors ATMs are entirely common around Washington DC. Freestanding ones are typically found in grocery or convenience stores.
I can’t think of any that aren’t outdoors here in my town in Savannah except the ones in the malls or where the bank itself is located inside another building. the first time I saw the kind that you describe was in NYC and I thought they were odd and were a reaction to a larger amount of street crime.
Freestanding ATMs are going to be common any place folks need access to immediate cash. Sixth street in Austin is a classic example of party central and there are plenty of feral ATMs.
Not at all common here in Saskatchewan (in fact, I can’t think of any near me). Simple reason: our winter weather - there’s no way in the winter that I want to have to take my gloves off to get my card out of my wallet!
Most of the banks around me have a drive-through ATM as well as a walk-up one. In fact, I’ve never seen one inside a bank.
There’s weird regional variations. I grew up in California and didn’t even know drive-through ATMs existed. Here, they’re plentiful. I don’t know if it’s a legal thing or what.
And where would “here” be?
I’ve traveled all over the US over the last 20-ish years. When I first encountered greater NYC’s ATMs in locked foyers I was surprised & confused. Then I remembered everything in NYC has to be armored against street crime to protect both the machinery & the patrons. Unlike 90+ percent of the rest of the US. Then it made sense.
Bottom line, ATMs in foyers mostly follow the weather. If it snows there, you’ll see a lot more in foyers than if it never snows there. And in areas of high crime you’ll see what few ATMs there are are generally in foyers as well.
One nickname for them in the UK is “hole in the wall”, so yes, that is the usual configuration. There are the bank lobby ones too.