According to a recent survey, consumers are largely unaware of major security threats at their ATMs – but would switch banks if another institution demonstrated that it provided more secure ATMs.

The Wincor Nixdorf study polled the knowledge, preferences and trends around ATM security of consumers based in the United States. The survey revealed that, despite an overwhelming concern about ATM fraud, the majority of consumers are unaware of popular fraud tactics, such as ATM card skimming. Skimming causes $350,000 in monetary losses each day and is occurring five times more frequently this year than ever before, according to the Secret Service.

Additionally, the majority of consumers agreed that if another bank offered significantly more advanced ATM security, they would switch banks.

"The ATM has become the primary customer touch point for many financial institutions, so it is critical that retail banks offer the most sophisticated security software to protect their customers,” said David Hadesty, VP of Product Management for Wincor Nixdorf’s U.S. Banking Division. “Now, more than ever – if you are a retail bank that does not make investments in advanced ATM security, you are at risk of losing both money and customers.”

The full results of the survey are available at http://bit.ly/dRgoum.