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Tuesday, October 12th, 2010
For a recent installation at an Asian restaurant in downtown Minneapolis, the owner wanted his ATM to look like part of the decor. We came up with a design that had a dragon wrapping itself around the sides, front and top of the ATM.
Our designs last for years, thanks to durable materials and our detailed installation process. Use it to help your ATM blend in — or use it to help your ATM stand out, either as a marketing tool or even a piece of art.
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
Last November, RBS Group — the parent company of RBS WorldPay, which handles ATM processing for ATM Network — received financial help from the British government. As part of the agreement, RBS Group agreed to divest itself of RBS WorldPay.
Now the new owners have been found, and the sale finalized.
Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, the U.K.’s biggest government-owned bank, agreed to sell its credit- card payment processing unit to Advent International Corp. and Bain Capital LLC for 1.7 billion pounds ($2.7 billion).
RBS may receive a further 200 million pounds if the buyers’ returns hit certain targets, the Edinburgh-based bank said in a statement today. RBS will keep a 20 percent stake. It will also book a gain from the sale of about 850 million pounds after goodwill, separation and transaction costs, the bank said.
RBS is being forced to dispose of the unit to comply with European Union state-aid rules after taking 45.5 billion pounds in a taxpayer-funded rescue during the financial crisis. The bank announced this week the sale of 318 branches to Banco Santander SA to comply with the ruling, and must also dispose of its insurance division.
Advent and Bain Capital are private-equity firms. Such firms typically buy distressed companies, operate them for several years, then sell them at a profit.
But they also will operate profitable businesses on occasion, and that appears to be the case here. RBS has been steadily profitable, reporting $400 million in profits last year, and Advent and Bain appear to regard it as a good place to park investment money while the world recovers from global recession.
Advent also owns a 51 percent stake in another payment process, Fifth Third Processing Solutions, but said there are no plans to combine the processing companies.
The companies anticipate no changes in day-to-day operations, and the ownership change shouldn’t even be noticeable to ATM owners. If changes crop up in the future, ATM Network will notify ATM owners and help them adjust.
Friday, July 2nd, 2010
Want to win a real ATM filled with cash?
You can…. if you play the Win For Life game run by the Georgia Lottery.
Nonwinning tickets can be entered in a second-chance drawing. On July 31 a grand-prize drawing will be held. The top prize? A real Tranax 1700W ATM, provided by ATM Network and filled with $52,000 in cash.
The ATM itself is worth a couple of thousand dollars, so it’s really a $54,000 payoff. And if you find a location to install it (with free processing from ATM Network), it could be the start of a business.
The promotion is being advertised with full-size cardboard displays (that’s what the picture’s of) in more than 8,000 stores statewide, with the ATM Network logo right in the center.
Who says ATMs can’t be fun?
Monday, May 3rd, 2010
The ATM business is sometimes described as “recession proof”, and stories like this are one reason why.
U.S. consumers are withdrawing more money from ATMs, likely the result of the economic recession, industry insiders say. In September 2008, when the recession was official, consumers started relying more heavily on cash and debit, and less on credit.
Gary Faulkner, the executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Morphis Cash Forecasting Software of Dallas, says it was around that time that U.S. ATM withdrawals started going up. He said many of his ATM customers started complaining that the Morphis forecasting tool was not meeting targets, and ATMs were often low on cash because of increased withdrawal amounts. Faulkner says ATMs that had been effectively managed by Morphis’ system for years were suddenly running out of cash.
“Starting in September 2008, customers were complaining that the forecasting was not right,” he said. “Nearly universally, our customers saw an increase in transactions and an increase in cash withdrawals per transaction.”
Faulkner says the volume of transactions increased as well. In fact, Faulkner estimates that the overall cash withdrawals from each transaction increased from roughly $65 to $75 a transaction to about $100 a transaction.
We’ve written before about the practice of using cash accounting to manage tight budgets — withdrawing a certain amount of money for holiday shopping or a weekly budget, and when the cash is gone, stop spending. We’ve also noted why a recession can be good for ATM usage.
Now the numbers are in. ATMs really *are* recession proof.
Friday, February 5th, 2010
Payment Alliance International, an independent distributor/operator of ATMs, has bought WRG Services’ ATM processing operation.
In the ATM industry, there are manufacturers (who make the machines) and Independent Service Operators, who distribute and handle transactions for machines. ATM Network, for instance, is an ISO — we provide the best machine for a particular client, regardless of manufacturer, and then handle the transaction processing for that machine.
It’s a model that works pretty well because at each stage the company’s interest is aligned with the customers. Manufacturers need to produce good machines at good prices in order to make sales to ISOs. And because ISOs make their money on processing (they’re paid a small fee per transaction by the customer’s bank), they sell machines nearly at cost.
Result: If they work with a reputable ISO like ATM Network, ATM owners get great prices on great machines, and processing is free.
WRG is different. They directly service more than 12,000 ATMs, which makes them an ISO. But they also make the WRG line of ATMs.
That left them with a conflict between their service business and their ATM business: the service business wanted to be able to sell any ATM at a low price, while the ATM business wanted to sell as many WRG ATMs as possible, at the highest possible price.
It’s unclear whether the PAI deal involves the ATM manufacturing arm. All the company statements refer only to the processing business, but both the companies and news reports act as if PAI is buying all of WRG.
If the deal involves just the processing business, it would resolve WRG’s conflict while giving them cash to build their ATM business.
But if PAI is taking over WRG entirely, it just transfers the problem to PAI. Would you want to buy your ATM from a processor that has a motive to either steer you to a machine that isn’t quite suited to your needs, or overcharge you for it?
We’ll update as we learn more.
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
Steve Fisher, a member of the ATM Network sales team, recently marked eight years of service to the company.
At a celebration last week, ATM Network founder and owner Phil Rock presented Steve with a cake, a bonus and some time to reflect on the past eight years. Phil and sales manager Chad Woolson told stories about the company’s early days, from its founding in Phil’s basement to its first office in a strip mall in Minnetonka.
Steve has contributed greatly to the growth of ATM Network through his long and dedicated service. But he’s hardly alone. Our 25 employees represent nearly 120 years of combined experience in the ATM industry. Next month we will celebrate three more anniversaries with a combined 35 years of experience.
Such longevity and experience is why ATM Network continues to weather changes that have seen competitors come and go. Our staff of competent and committed professionals support each and every machine and transaction, a level of service that no other provider can touch.
Thursday, May 21st, 2009
ATM Network's Internet adapter
Along with faster processors and bigger screens, modern ATMs can access our processing network over your high-speed Internet line. Doing so has three advantages:
Faster processing. A high-speed connection can process a transaction is 3 seconds, compared with an average of 22 seconds using dial up.
No phone line needed. Getting rid of your ATM’s dedicated phone line can save you up to $40 a month.
Increased reliability. No more busy signals, dropped calls or worries about noise on the line.
That’s great if you’ve got a newer machine, but what about owners with older equipment?
ATM Network has you covered. We’ve come up with a box to add Internet capability to your ATM. It’s a “plug and play” solution that plugs into your Internet router and your ATM.
Because older ATMs have older circuitry, retrofitted machines won’t see processing time drop to 3 seconds. But it will shave a few seconds off the current time. And it delivers the other two advantages: increased reliability and ditching the dedicated phone line.
This isn’t some cobbled-together, untested pile of circuitry. We’ve had the box installed in multiple locations for more than a year and a half, with great success and reliability.
And you can’t beat the price: $300. Compare that to spending $2,000 or more for a new ATM. The savings from getting rid of the phone line means the box will pay for itself in less than 8 months.
To find out more about adding Internet capability to your ATM, call 1-800-929-0228, e-mail info@atmnetwork.net, visit our Products page or fill out our online order form.
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
The monthly check that ATM operators get are great, aren’t they? But while we’re sure nobody forgets to cash their check, a lot of ATM owners throw out the check stub without a second thought.
Don’t! Those stubs tell you how much you’ve earned from your ATM, and at the end of the year you’ll need them to calculate your yearly income.
They also contain valuable activity information for your ATM machine. Each stub tells you several useful things:
The stub also breaks down transaction activity by day. So you can see, for example, that on May 5th your ATM handled 9 transactions that withdrew a total of $480, while on May 7 there were just 4 transactions for $120.
How is this information valuable? Lots of ways. By tracking customer activity, you can make sure to have enough cash in the ATM on your busiest days. You can gauge how your advertising and marketing affect ATM usage and how ATM usage affects sales. You can see which network is most popular with your customers, which might guide marketing decisions.
So cash the check. But keep the stub.
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
7-11 first installed ATM machines in all of their locations nationwide more than 30 years ago because they learned (maybe before anyone else) that customers that use their ATMs to withdraw cash end up spending money inside the store.
Not only did ATM customers spend money inside the store when they use a cash machine, but they actually spend 25 percent more on average than non-ATM customers. For many types of business owners, this adds up to additional revenue of several hundred dollars every month.
Cash machines have become a very popular tool for personal banking. Nearly 80 percent of all banking is done through privately-owned cash machines in places like gas stations, convenience stores, bars and nightclubs.
People are busy these days, and it makes them impatient. They don’t want to stand in line at a bank just to get cash. So most people get cash while doing other things like shopping or running errands.
As a result, many people make decisions on where to shop based on whether or not there’s an ATM machine inside. Indeed, most customers expect businesses like gas stations, convenience stores, and bars to have cash machines.
Further, a convenience like an ATM increases customer loyalty. Once customers know you have an ATM, it’s much easier to get repeat business from them and have them coming into your business weekly or even several times per week.
For the customers that come into your store just to use the ATM machine and do not end up spending money, you still earn the transaction fee on the machine, which is normally between $2.00 and $3.00.
To find out more about ATM ownership, leasing or placement, e-mail info@atmnetwork.net, visit our Benefits page or download our Buyer’s Guide.
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008
People do not go to the bank to get cash the way they used to. Instead, they look for retail locations to get money while running other errands like getting gas or shopping. In fact, over 80 percent of all banking transactions do not take place at banks — they take place through privately owned ATMs.
For merchants that have ATMs in their business, that means increased customer traffic. Because getting cash is one of the things on their “to-do” list, most customers get cash, gas, cigarettes, coffee, etc. all at the same location.
Here’s what some ATM owners had to say about having atms in their businesses:
“Operating a convenience store, we certainly could not live without an atm. People come to use the atm and end up spending more money in our store. Before we had one, we lost many customers to a competitor up the street.”
Ron Coolidge, owner, Super Stop
“We don’t accept credit cards, and since the local bank ATM does not advance funds on credit cards, this has impacted my business and given my customers an additional payment option. I recommend this system to bars or taverns of any size in any town.”
Daniel Bowden, Owner, Doolittles Pub & Eatery
“I think it is essential for anybody who sells liquor and food to have ATMs. It helps people spend money. Some people don’t want to use their check card – they prefer to use debit and get cash out of the machine. Plus, you see a lot of return on additonal sales.”
Cory Hunter, General Manager, Boondocks Bar & Grill
What would it mean to your business if customers came in just to get cash then decided to spend money?
In addition to seeing increased sales, the owner of an ATM also get to keep the transaction fee charged by the machine. If you accept credit cards, you’ll also see a reduction in your credit card fees because more people will withdraw and spend cash instead of making you pay a processing fee by using your credit card terminal.
To find out more about ATM ownership, leasing or placement, e-mail info@atmnetwork.net, visit our Benefits page or download our Buyer’s Guide.
