A cash dispenser is a device that allows customers to withdraw money.
Although it is used in some places as another name for an ATM, the dispenser is the unit inside the ATM that dispenses the money loaded into its units.
When people say dispenser ATM, they should think of an ATM that only has a cash withdrawal function.
How does the dispenser unit work?
The dispenser is the mechanism that picks banknotes from the cassettes, counts the notes picked and presents them to the customer. Banknotes are usually picked one by one by a pick-up mechanism at the bottom of the cassette. Notes that stick together or are damaged are diverted to the reject cassette.
In most setups, each cassette is loaded with a single denomination; for example, one cassette holds 50 TL notes and another holds 100 TL notes. The ATM software meets the amount requested by the customer with the most suitable banknote combination based on the available cassettes.
Because of this structure, problems such as running out of cash, cassette failures or banknote jams can put the ATM out of service. Banks therefore run cash level monitoring and backup cassette planning.
