THE SECURITY OF THE ATM MACHINES IN RELATION TO STUDENTS

Abstract

Banking services and related technologies have seen a continuous evolution or rise to better customer convenience and financial needs. In this regard, the introduction of the ATM based monetary or budgetary transaction has been a radical shift. However, the recent rise in the ATM skimming incidents, card data theft issues, online data tampering, and other forms of physical intrusions into customer safety have raised the necessity to adopt a preventive approach to combating or stopping such issues. This research is a step towards understanding the current awareness levels amongst customers on the safety precautions and guidelines. For the sake of primary study, a student population has been selected based on purposeful sampling. The research has been done or completed by adopting primary research techniques and making use of a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to meet the research objectives. Moreover, interpretivistism is a research philosophy that has been selected or chosen for this research paper. Interpretivism studies focus on meaning and it may select multiple methods in order to reflect different aspects of the issue. This philosophy has been adopted to understand participant awareness on skimming frauds, and it analyzes bank’s measures to put a stop to the fraud issues. A thematic analysis of the findings would be conducted to arrive at important conclusions. Some necessary recommendations would be made to customers and banks on how to adopt a proactive approach to manage such frauds and detect their presence in the first place. The recommendations can play an important role in increasing customer awareness and restraining the fraud issues.

Chapter 01: Introduction

• The Introduction

ATMs or Automated Teller machines are something that everybody is aware of these days. ATMs are useful equipment that we all use to get cash from banks. They save us from waiting in long queues in banks for withdrawing cash from our bank accounts. However, the lack of awareness of users regarding the ATM security has been causing trouble and issues to the ATM users (Sidel, 2015). The cases of ATM frauds and skimming have been more and more common in the UK and across the globe. This is relevant even in case of the young students who are the new generation users of the ATM services. According to FICO, the number of ATM frauds and skimming incidents in 2015 in America, the UK and other European nations has increased to an unbelievable 546 percent as compared to 2014 (Krebson-Security, 2016). This shows the high necessity or need of awareness among the students and the other users regarding the ATM security and safety use measures (Krebson-Security, 2016). The research here would focus on identifying these necessities or needs and issues or loopholes that must be addressed, in terms of the awareness of students regarding the knowledge of security measures with the usage of ATMs. The primary focus of the research has been the students as they are the new generation of users of ATMs and therefore, they should be more aware than their senior fellow users.

• The Background

Furthermore, several researches have been conducted on the effective use of the ATM cards and how the knowledge of the security measures of the ATM usage can aid or help in producing a safer use of ATMs. There have also been several researches in the area of ATM frauds and skimming and its impact on the ATM users. The literature review section focuses on many of such researches. However, the number of researches being conducted on the awareness of young students regarding safer use of ATMs is limited. There is also an increased necessity or need of it as young students are the new users of ATMs therefore, they need to be more effectively prepared than their fellow senior ATM users. That’s why the research here will focus mainly on the young students who are

apparently the newer users of ATMs and how awareness of the ATM security measures can benefit them.

• The Problem Statement

The problem statement that will be addressed in this research paper is the necessity of awareness of the ATM security measures that the young students must be aware of. The research will understand the existing loopholes or issues in the knowledge level of these young ATM users and how these issues can be addressed.

• The Significance of the Research

The research holds high importance and significance as the issue of the ATM frauds and skimming have become more and more common in the UK as well as in other parts of the world. The issues become even more challenging in case of young students, as mostly they are the new users. These facts make them more susceptible to the ATM frauds and theft issues (Sidel, 2016). Thus, the focus and assessment in the research will try to understand and picture the knowledge awareness of these young students regarding the security and the safety in ATM usage. This research would aid or help in identifying the knowledge loopholes or issues that must be addressed to ensure ATM security from theft and skimming. Moreover, the interview of the former bank employee would help in providing effective recommendations that could be useful for all the ATM users.

• The Research Aim

The aim of this research is to understand the awareness levels amongst students pertaining to security issues and precautions required in the ATM usage.

• The Research Objectives

The below objectives can help meet the research aim:

• To understand the current awareness levels and the knowledge of the students in relation to the ATM usage.
• To assess how banks play their role in protecting the security and privacy of their customers.
• To make recommendations to students on the best possible ways to safeguard their security and avoid skimming incidents.
• The Research Questions

The below questions have been framed for this research paper:

• What is the current awareness level of students using ATMs, on the safety precautions and guidelines?
• How do banks generate awareness and knowledge about safety practices to these students?
• What steps can be taken by students to ensure protection from skimming incidents or security issues?
• The Rationale of the Research

There are several reasons, which justify the rationale for this research paper. However, the primary reason for the research is the widespread lack of awareness of ATM related security in users, especially among the young students. Another major rational for the research is the increasing usage of ATMs across nations, which creates a natural requirement of awareness among users regarding the security, concerns in ATMs. The research has also focused on the young students, as they are the largest proportion of the new users of ATMs every year, which in fact makes them most vulnerable or unguarded which makes them defenseless. According to Simmons, safety and precaution is a primary requirement when it comes to banking related activities, as the stakes are too high (Simmons,, 2014).

• The Limitations of the Study

The research also suffers from certain limitations. Some of the major limitations for this study or research are:

• The sample size for the survey is only 50, which is too small comparing to the population, which would create limitations on the generalizability of the findings.
• The research is being conducted only through qualitative analysis this will also make the findings very subjective and open to biasness or unfairness. Thus, there will be high chances of unfairness in the findings of the research.
• Interviews will also be conducted on only one bank employee and one student which is also too less to form any conclusive conclusion.
• The Structure of the Dissertation

The dissertation would be followed by a well defined and a planned structure, which is explained below in detail.

• Chapter 1: Introduction: The introduction section explains the basic motive of the research along with the aims, the objective and the research questionnaires.
• Chapter 2: Literature review: The literature review takes a detailed dig or deep research on the existing literature and researches being done on the subject, which is about ATM Security.
• Chapter 3: Research Methodology: The methodology section assesses the research methodologies being used in the research, such as the purpose, the philosophy, the data collection and so on.
• Chapter 4: Results: The results section describes the results or responses obtained from the survey and the interviews.
• Chapter 5: Findings and their Implications: The findings section analyses the results’ and describes the patterns found in the results using a thematic analysis approach.
• Chapter 6: Conclusions and Recommendations: Based on the findings, conclusions are arrived at, and also important recommendations are provided at the end.
• Conclusion

The introduction section in detail describes the aims and the purpose of the study and it shows the rationale behind the research. As stated in the significance of the research, the research is important as the issue of ATMs theft, skimming and frauds are popular in the UK and other parts of the world. The introduction section also explains why the research focuses on the young students and why there is a high necessity in creating awareness among them regarding the ATM frauds and security issues. The introduction section along with explaining the aims and the objectives of the research also explains the limitations of the study in detail.

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