Cash Quality Problems in Your ATM? Simple Fixes
The short version
- Most cash jams and rejects start before the cassette goes in. A few minutes of checking saves a service call.
- Run notes through a note counter with a reject pocket to catch doubles, mixed notes and suspect notes.
- Pull out torn, folded, taped, stapled or badly worn notes. Bank them instead. Sticky bar notes can go through a clothes dryer, then the counter.
- Brand-new polymer notes are stiff and grippy. Wear them in before loading; one pass through a counter is not enough.
- Load only $20 and $50 notes, each in its own cassette, with the facing alternated so the notes slip.
Why note quality matters
An ATM dispenser picks one note at a time and checks it as it goes. A folded corner, a tear or two notes stuck together can make it reject the note or stop. The Reserve Bank’s review of banknote distribution notes that banknotes with folded corners or tears can cause problems in ATMs and vending machines.
Rejected notes go to the reject bin. Too many rejects and the ATM can go out of service until someone clears it.
Use a note counter with a reject pocket
A good note counter is the cheapest fix. Look for one with a reject pocket or diverter. When the counter finds a problem note, it sends it to a separate pocket instead of stopping the whole count.
- Doubles and chains: two notes fed together, often new notes stuck to each other.
- Mixed denominations: a $10 or $100 hiding in a bundle of $20s.
- Suspect notes: many counters check security features. Treat a flagged note with care and do not load it.
Count each cassette’s notes separately. It gives you an accurate load figure for your records.
Sort out the bad notes
Before loading, check bundles by hand as well. Take out any note that is:
- torn, or has a piece missing
- folded, with dog-eared corners or a hard crease
- taped, stapled or glued
- heavily worn, limp or stained
- written on, or has something stuck to it
Put these aside and bank them with your takings. Most worn notes can simply be deposited. For badly damaged notes, the Reserve Bank’s damaged banknotes policy applies, and your bank is the place to start.
missing: the RBA pays the full face value of a damaged note.
missing: value is paid in proportion to what is left.
missing: nothing is paid.
Why brand-new notes cause jams
New notes from the bank look perfect, but they often cause the most trouble. Brand-new polymer notes tend to cling to each other until they have been handled. The Bank of Canada notes that new polymer notes may stick together at first, and that this goes away as they circulate.
Fresh notes are also stiff, and their surfaces grip. Most ATMs use a friction-feed dispenser: a pick wheel slides the top note off the stack. If the notes grip too hard, the wheel can’t separate them, and two stuck notes get picked as one. The dispenser then rejects them, or the note path jams.
To wear in new notes:
- fan the bundle out, flex it, then tap it square on a hard surface
- shuffle the notes so they separate
- run them through the note counter more than once. A single pass is not enough
- where you can, mix new notes with good used notes
The slip test: why facing matters
Slide your finger across a banknote. The printed part and the clear window feel different. That is friction, and each surface has its own.
Stack every note facing the same way and you get plastic on plastic and print on print, all the way down. Each note drags unevenly against the next, so it skews as the pick wheel pulls it: it slips sideways or comes through on a slant. The counting and checking sensors expect a note moving square. A skewed note trips them, and the dispenser stops with an error, because it puts an accurate count first.
So alternate the facing. Mix the notes so printed and clear surfaces sit against each other and the stack slips. Turning over whole 100-note bundles is not enough; shuffle the notes themselves.
Laundering money: the clothes dryer fix
A big Melbourne bar had a problem. Its takings came back wet and sticky from the bar. It wanted to put that cash back through its own ATM, not pay for another cash collection. But sticky notes jam a dispenser.
Dash had heard a story from a remote pub in the NT. They ran their polymer notes through a clothes dryer for five minutes. It dried off the sticky alcohol and smoothed out the creases.
Old wives’ tale? Who knew. A quick trip to the local white goods store, a clothes dryer, and a test.
It works. Some 13 years and nearly $20 million “laundered” later, Dash can vouch for it: a few minutes in the dryer, then through the note counter, turns sticky bar cash into notes your ATM will dispense. That is cash you recirculate on site instead of paying to have it collected.
Loading the cassettes
- Only $20 and $50 notes. Each cassette is set for one denomination. Never mix them.
- Alternate the facing. Never load every note facing the same way, not even in alternating 100-note bundles. Shuffle them so the surfaces slip.
- Square the stack. Push it flat against the guides, with no notes on edge or curled.
- Do not overfill. Stay below the cassette’s fill line.
- Check the reject bin. Empty it at each load, count what is in it and record it so your reconciliation balances.
For step-by-step instructions, see our guide to loading ATM cassettes.
How Dash helps
- Fault alerts: Dash sees when your ATM goes out of service and can talk you through clearing it.
- Managed for you: installation, cash logistics, fault alerts, reconciliation and national field service, all visible in the Dash web portal.
- Guides for your staff, including how to load cassettes and clear the reject bin.
Need help? Contact the Dash team or call 1300 125 592.
FAQ
Why does my ATM keep rejecting notes?
The usual causes are worn, folded or torn notes, and new notes stuck together. Check notes with a counter, remove bad ones and break new bundles before loading.
Can I load brand-new notes from the bank?
Yes, but wear them in first: fan, flex and shuffle them, run them through a note counter more than once, and load them with the facing alternated. New polymer notes are stiff and grip each other until they have been handled.
What do I do with damaged notes?
Keep them out of the ATM and bank them. For badly damaged notes, ask your bank about the Reserve Bank's damaged banknotes policy.
Dash ATM has built and managed ATM networks across Australia since 2012, led by founder Paul Wrigley, in the ATM industry since 2002. Keep cash local.
Sources: RBA: Damaged Banknotes Policy · RBA: Review of Banknote Distribution Arrangements, Issues Paper, 2021 · Bank of Canada: Handling polymer notes