I can foresee security being an issue with these machines should they want to expand. It would make sense for them to be installed only in places with substantial security already in place. (I can see casinos getting in on this bandwagon, as they already provide escorts in some instances) Personally I like the casino idea....have a good night, win some money, buy some gold. Heck, why stop there.....throw some good current silver bars in there too...Stagecoach silver, the Morgan bars, etc. : ) Gold vending machines....who would have thunk it? @Mat- Thanks for the link.
ATMs in high traffic areas can easily have a $150K or more in them and it isn't much of a problem so this wouldn't be a new issue. I can't imagine they would load one of these machines with enough gold at one time to exceed that amount.
I always thought it was funny to see the guys hooking a chain to an atm machine on the crime reality shows....this might tempt me to dig up the big chain in my garage.
Lol......We had it happen in my neck of the woods a few years back, they actually dragged it for miles too. Had a few attempts that did not get that far as well. I can`t see them putting these in anything but casinos, airports or certain resorts.
Don`t forget gold is already at $1300 right now. If You take a 1 ounce bar or round of gold (even in a protective type casing) and stack a few of them....they don`t take up too much space. Same goes for the fractional bars & rounds. You do bring up a good point though....I wonder how much they are putting in these machines?
This does not sound like a good idea at all. These machines will be capeable of accepting Credit Cards. Wasn't a similar practice one of the major contributors of the Great Depression? If I recall correctly people were taking out loans on stocks that were becoming increasingly overvalued. What is going to happen when people max out their credit cards on gold and the price slips?
I would think accepting credit cards would be a big no-no from a creditors standpoint (if they had any sense at all). As for people maxing out credit cards to by gold, that would be an idiotic idea at best, unless said person thought an end-of-the-world situation was at hand. Reality is the world isn't going to end and the piper would have to be paid sometime in the future. The interest alone would eat up any profit and long term consequences would be severe...but then again you can never tell what desperation could cause someone to do.
There are lots of different spec levels on ATMs, but the ones that are operated with a lot of cash are built like small fortresses and they usually have the ability to call security if one of the various alarms are triggered. These machines have been around since the 1970s and I don't believe there have been many successful attempts to break one open and get the cash. It would not have been too difficult to adapt one to spit out gold ingots on cards as the machines have different replaceable cartridges for the different currencies of world and the manufacturers make them so they can be customized for specific customers. If this is what they did, I can see them being placed where ever there might be interest in gold buying.
Right, those machines are in relatively safe areas. The ones in Abu Dhabi and Madrid, for example, are in pretty upscale hotels. In Munich and Augsburg (DE) you need to go inside a bank in order to use it. Each of the machines has gold worth about €100,000 ($135,000) inside, so yes, you do want some extra security. Christian
I agree that buying PM's on credit is a terrible idea. I have heard of people using their credit cards for other such "investments" such as cars which depreciate the instant they are driven off the lot.
My concern with buying gold with a credit card, (if these machines accept them), would be fraud. Steal a credit card, go to the gold vending machine, and buy as much as the machine will give you. Since gold is so sellable, you have instant profit! For that reason I seriously doubt the machines would ever accept credit cards. Too much fraud risk. I wouldn't use these machines for any reason. I do not want to be seen patronizing one then walking away. The thief KNOWS you are carrying gold.
The machines can (technically) accept credit and debit cards, as well as cash. Whether they accept plastic at all locations, I don't know. As for the limits per transaction etc., see here: http://www.gold-to-go.com/en/the-gold-vending-machine/money-laundering-prevention/ In my opinion those gold vending machines are nice PR instruments, not much more (yet), and I do not have any plans to use one. But if you want to buy gold, why not? Sure, if you walk away from such a gold vending machine, a thief may assume you walk away with some gold. Guess what, if you have just used a plain cash ATM, a thief would assume you walk away with cash. Christian
Good points, but just like a cash ATM I expect these gold ATMs to i) have security cameras and ii) to be placed in secure locations, perhaps with security guards nearby. As we saw the gold ATM in Abu Dhabi, it was unveiled inside the lobby of an exclusive five star luxury hotel... not likely to find one of these gold ATMs in a convenience mart or gas-n-go type establishment and unlikely to find any inside bank lobbies either. These are a novelty and will be placed in select markets, as the article suggested casinos and select tourist locations. They will be used as an attraction and gimmick to bring people into spend money at the establishments who choose to market the gold ATM to their clients (customers), hence I expect significant above spot mark up for the profitability of the establishment it's in, the ATM owner/maintainer and the bullion inventory it needs to be filled with.
Abu Dhabi is a nexus between the traditional and modern spheres of the Arab world. It wouldn't be surprising for a cash rich hotel guest to need some "real" money for a transaction where paper notes would not be welcome. Antiques, hashish, wife number 3, etc.
