The report contains an analytical look at trends in U.S. consumers' ATM use, including use of their own banks' ATMs versus other ATMs and other means of getting cash, frequency of ATM use, use of mobile deposit, willingness to pay for ATM convenience, and willingness to try teller-assisted videoconferencing features on ATMs, the company said.

Read more: Breaches renew interest in cash ...

Ed O'Brien, director of Mercator Advisory Group's Banking Channels Advisory Service and author of the report, told CU Times that he discovered several interesting facts while researching ATM trends.

"For example, more than three-quarters of ATMs currently deployed are operated by entities other than leading banks," he said. "Also, while the use of cash is down, it's still important, and with the number of recent data breaches, cash may gain even more importance."

The renewed interest in ATMs in the U.S. was spurred by a need to increase efficiencies after more than a half-decade of economic challenges as well as to replace fee income lost as a result of the 2011 regulations required by the Durbin Amendment, according to O'Brien.

"The evolution, or some would say revolution, of the ATM continues unabated," he wrote in the Mercator report. "As the hub of the self-service channel and a complementary channel for branches, ATMs conduct much of the heavy lifting in today's retail banking environment."

A growing number of credit unions and other financial institutions have reported a jump in deposits at ATMs with some noting an increase of up to 50% largely due to the availability of intelligent deposit and deposit automation machines, the report said.

For example, the $2.6 billion Catalyst Corporate Federal Credit Union in Plano, Texas, recently expanded its ATM Capture service to include image-enabled ATMs on the NCR platform, which allows hundreds of credit unions to improve processing and operational efficiencies.

"Catalyst Corporate introduced ATM Capture in 2009 as part of its full suite of remote deposit services," said Brad Graney, senior VP and chief operating officer of the $2.6 billion Catalyst Corporate, in an August press release. "Initially serving credit unions with Diebold image-enabled ATMs, we are pleased to make this service available to another large segment of our membership that owns NCR ATMs."

Improved features are also helping credit unions cut labor costs and boost efficiency, O'Brien said.

"Servicing and costs can be significantly less for these machines than for legacy (envelope) ATMs," he stated in the report. "Fraud related to 'empty envelope deposits' is also reduced."

Since ATM fee income is an important source of revenue for many financial institutions, O'Brien said he researched surcharge fees and the impact of surcharge-free ATMs as a differentiator. The report confirmed the results of a Mercator Advisory Group Customer Monitor Survey, which showed that consumers are becoming increasingly eager to use surcharge-free ATMs, he said.

"Consequently, some credit unions are bundling ATM transaction costs into account pricing models and/or offering access to transaction-free ATM networks or offering rebates for fees for off-us transactions," the report read.

O'Brien also pointed out costs associated with the daily tasks of emptying ATM check bins can amount up to $1,000 per month per branch in labor and armored car transportation runs.

Investments in ATMs and other self-service channels are a core component of the movement toward daily and weekly real-time interaction with bank customers and credit unions members as part of a larger, omni channel experience, according to the report.

In addition, the Mercator findings discussed new roles for today's expanded ATM capabilities, the convergence of ATMs and mobility, and the increasing need for systems monitoring.

O'Brien said he investigated the impact of newer features, such as funds transfers expanded beyond basic demand deposit accounts, bill payment, prepaid and transit cards, mini-statements, mobile phone top-up, and a convergence between ATMs and mobile devices.

Mercator estimated that spending on banking technology products and solutions worldwide, including core, channels, marketing, analytics, mobility, and other systems, exceeds $100 billion annually, with annual growth rates varying by market and region from high single digits to over 25%.

The report also examined increased efficiencies and customer engagement and satisfaction and a discussion of financial institutions' investments in ATMs as larger initiative of building out a customer-centric omni channel banking environment, O'Brien said.

Features such as extended account inquiry and deposit and account transfer functions for a wide variety of account types, have helped to free tellers for richer and more detailed conversations with credit union members about their banking and financial needs which can be a prerequisite for cross-selling or up-selling and serving banking customers in an omni channel banking environment, he said.

Advanced-feature ATMs can now handle a wide variety of transactions that previously had to be done at the teller line. In the near future, new capabilities such as increased convergence of ATM functionality with mobile banking, account-to-account and person-to-person transfers, and EMV contactless cards, are expected to keep ATMs in the forefront, O'Brien stated in the report.