Multivendor ATM lifecycle: why the repair depot matters

By the Redsis Technical Services Division team · October 2026 · 6 min read

Mexico still runs on its ATMs

Public debate tends to focus on digital payments, and for good reason: adoption has grown fast. But the data shows cash is still central. According to Banco de México figures reported by El Universal, currency in circulation ended 2025 at MXN 3.5 trillion, up 7.6% year over year. And the country had more than 62,500 active ATMs at the end of 2023, 1,773 more than a year earlier, according to CNBV data cited by Xataka México.

That network is highly concentrated. Mexico's four largest banks, which together hold more than half of the system's assets according to official data, also operate a large share of its ATMs. For them, self-service availability isn't a minor technical issue. It's the bank's face on the street.

Why an ATM fleet is almost never single-vendor

Large fleets are built over many years. Machines come in through different procurement rounds, new model generations arrive, deposit and cash-recycling capabilities get added, and over time several brands and models end up sharing the same network. That's normal, but it has consequences:

• Fragmented contracts. If each manufacturer only services its own machines, the bank ends up managing multiple vendors, SLAs and reports.
• Scattered inventories. Every model needs its own spare parts, and they aren't all available at the same speed.
• Machines aging at different rates. Some models stay reliable for years; others start failing in specific modules.
• Partial visibility. Without a common metric, it's hard to know how much of the fleet is actually available.

A multivendor maintenance model, with a single technical provider across manufacturers, addresses that fragmentation. It brings field operations, parts management and service measurement under one commitment.

The repair depot: the part of the service nobody sees

The technician's visit is the visible part of the service. What actually sustains the SLA usually sits behind it: the repair depot. That's where modules and components pulled in the field are repaired and refurbished instead of being scrapped or swapped for new parts.

The value of that model comes down to three effects widely recognized across the self-service industry:

• Parts availability. Every repaired component goes back into inventory. The depot becomes an in-house source of spares, less dependent on import lead times or manufacturer stock.
• Longer equipment life. Repairing and refurbishing modules keeps machines that are still sound in service longer, instead of replacing them before they need to be.
• More predictable costs. A provider that combines parts, depot and field service can plan operations better and offer a steadier cost of service over time.

Five keys to managing the lifecycle of a multivendor fleet

1. Know your fleet in detail

It all starts with a reliable inventory: which machines you have, their brand and model, where they're installed and how they've failed in the past. Without it, there's no way to size parts stock, technician routes or depot capacity.

2. Set an SLA you can measure

A clear service-level commitment, like the 95% SLA in our Mexico engagement, organizes the whole operation. It forces you to measure, report on the same metric across every brand and make decisions based on data rather than perception.

3. Treat parts as a strategic asset

Spare-parts management isn't a warehouse issue. It's the single biggest factor in fixing a fault on the first visit. Plan inventory by model and by region, and keep feeding it with components coming out of the depot.

4. Repair before you replace

Not every failed component needs to be swapped for a new one. A depot with multivendor capability can diagnose, repair and refurbish modules, saving new-part purchases for the cases where they're truly justified.

5. Think in terms of the full lifecycle

The decision to replace an ATM should be based on its real performance and maintenance cost, not just its age. Refurbishment extends the life of machines that are still reliable and gives the bank time to plan the replacement of those that aren't.

What we see in Mexico: 1,300+ ATMs under one model

For one of Mexico's four largest banks by assets, Redsis's Technical Services Division services more than 1,300 multivendor ATMs across multiple locations nationwide under a 95% SLA. The model combines on-site technical service, parts availability and a repair depot that refurbishes components to extend equipment lifecycle. The contract is active and service is delivered on an ongoing basis.

That operation doesn't start from scratch. In Brazil, our Technical Services Division repairs ATMs at manufacturer level for a major bank and co-develops technology with a global manufacturer. That's the experience we now bring to Mexican banking.

Where to start

If your bank runs an ATM fleet that mixes brands and models, and manages it through several providers today, the first step is to consolidate the data: how many machines you have, from which manufacturers, where they are, which modules fail most and how long service takes today. With that baseline, you can assess what part of maintenance makes sense to consolidate and what value a repair depot would add. At Redsis, we pair more than 25 years of technology experience across financial services, retail and industry with a Technical Services Division operating in Mexico and Brazil.