A partnership between the Design Against Crime Research Centre (DACRC), a number of banking groups and the Metropolitan Police and local government has been exploring how best to design against ATM crime in London. The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), who focus on customer care, is leading the way in testing whether ATM Art can contribute to customer security as well as customer experience. RBS have funded an evaluation of ATM Art at NatWest ATMs in City of Westminster and London Borough of Camden, coordinated by DACRC. The findings of the evaluation project, to be published in 2014, suggest that the ATM Art mats are liked by the public and are effective in defining defensible space that grants more privacy to ATM users.

Between 2008 and 2011, the most common ATM crime perpetrator techniques (modus operandi – MOs) recorded by City of Westminster Police were ‘distraction theft’ (a human centred MO) and ‘skimmer’ or ‘trapping’ offences (machine centred MOs).

The creation of ‘defensible spaces’ can facilitate behaviour change that empowers ATM users and helps reduce opportunities for ‘shoulder surfing’ and ‘distraction theft’. Until now, this had been attempted using floor painted boxes, and messaging, defining ATM ‘security zones’ or ‘privacy areas’.

Whilst such measures reportedly have some effectiveness in reducing crime around ATMs, they have not proven popular with many businesses or members of public, who consider them to

be indicative of crime problems and unattractive, acting as a deterrent to some users. This suggests the need for new ways of defining defensible space.