This article appeared in the ATM & Financial Self-Service Executive Summary, Summer 2006.
The turf where third-party service and maintenance providers compete with original-equipment manufacturers may be a more hospitable place these days as the combatants find new ways to work with each other.
Perhaps the clearest evidence of the change came at the Financial & Security Products Association conference in June. For the first time in the conference's 33-year history, an OEM - Diebold Inc. - was invited. At the top of Diebold's priorities during the conference: clarifying its revised service, software and parts policies for third-party providers.
Diebold's unprecedented attendance stems from an October 2004 antitrust complaint filed against it by FSPA. The complaint claimed that Diebold tried to gain an unfair advantage by restricting independent service providers from performing diagnostics on its U.S. bank ATMs. Specifically, third-party providers said that Diebold blocked their purchase of parts for Opteva ATMs.
In February 2005, association executive director John Vrabec said, "Diebold has made it impossible for independent third-party maintenance companies to successfully compete for ATM service contracts."
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But over the last 20 months, much has changed.
In August 2005, after the court denied FSPA's motion for a preliminary injunction against Diebold, FSPA dropped its suit. And FSPA and Diebold are now talking, which Vrabec said is a step in the right direction.
"The litigation is water under the bridge," Vrabec said in April. "The attitude is very positive now and we're working together."
It may take a while for the bruises from the legal tug-of-war to heal, but FSPA members say they're eager to move forward.
Of the conference's estimated 400 attendees, 125 participated in Diebold's presentation. Even though the presentation offered little room for dialogue with Diebold, FSPA members said they plan to stay open-minded.
More evidence of change
Less-dominant U.S. players like Triton Systems and Tranax Technologies, and new U.S. market entrants like China's GRG Banking Equipment Co. Ltd. and even Germany's Wincor Nixdorf International, are helping change traditional dynamics between OEMs and third-party providers.
"It's a very business-partner-friendly contract," said spokesperson Michael Bodine. "And we think Wincor will help level the playing field."
Triton's partner policies, like Wincor's, also are less restrictive than traditional ones. Phil Suitt, president of Triton reseller ATM Ventures, said the market's less-restrictive players are opening opportunities and changing the FI landscape.
"Triton doesn't compete with us," he said. "We sell it and service it. It's different from Diebold and NCR, who are big into their own service deals. This is giving options to the banks that they didn't have in the past."
