INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- The ATM Industry Association honored ATM companies for their work in several categories, including Best Practice ATM Deployment and Best ATM Technology, at last week's 2003 Future Summit and Awards.

The winners were:

In the category of Best Practice ATM Deployment (ISO category), eFunds Corporation. Kevin Reager, the Bank of America veteran who leads eFunds' ATM division, is transforming the company from a traditional ISO focused on small merchant accounts into a full-fledged management company offering professional services and outsourcing programs to large retail chains and financial institutions -- all in the wake of combining five different ATM portfolios, or some 17,000 machines.

Best Practice ATM Deployment (financial institution category), Australia's Bank of Queensland. The bank became the first in Australasia to implement vendor-independent ATM software, selecting NCR's APTRA for its fleet of 120 Diebold ATMs. David Saville, the bank's General Manager, Distribution and Productivity, said the move has resulted in an improved user interface. "Customers can now choose the denominations of notes, whether they want a receipt and there are two 'fast cash' options. Embedded screens have gone and the transactions flow more easily."

The bank is also using APTRA Promote, which allows it to deliver on-screen marketing campaigns, targeting them to clusters of ATMs and even to different types of cardholders. When Bank of Queensland was named Australia's Best Regional Bank for 2003, the message was on every ATM screen the next day. And when the bank launched a new credit card, its ATM screens reinforced the marketing campaign by carrying video footage and images from television and press advertisements.

Best ATM Technology (through-the-wall category): Triton's FT5000 ATM. Triton's first through-the-wall model represents a continuation of Triton's tradition of providing its customers with high quality cash-delivery systems with advanced functionality while maintaining a low cost of ownership.

Best ATM Technology (standalone category): Triton's 9100 ATM, which has sold more than 14,000 units since its 2002 introduction. Triton developed its own cash dispensing mechanism, the TDM-100, for the 9100. The TDM-100 features automatic error recovery, which allows the mechanism to slow and adjust movement to fix a jam automatically without taking the ATM out of service. The 9100 also features a patent pending cabinet design that increases its integrity and security while making the unit easier and quicker to install, thus allowing quicker installation times and reduced service costs.

Triton offered the 9100 as a build-to-stock unit, a first for the company, which had primarily been a build-to-order manufacturer. The benefit of a build-to-stock unit to distributors is the reduced time it takes to get the product into the hands of customers. Triton also instituted a new tool to get all of their distributors up to speed on the new product, employing the Internet and teleconferencing together to train distributors' sales forces.

Best Contribution to Promoting the Interests and Growth of the ATM Industry (individual category): Mike Lee, ATMIA's international director. According to Alan Townsend of the Metropolitan Police Flying Squad at New Scotland Yard, Lee encouraged him to form the IAD ATM Security Working Group was formed a month later, leading to all UK ATM deployers pooling ATM crime data on a joint database. The group also produced the first security guidelines for standalone ATMs and helped form a national ATM Crime Group of all interested industry/law enforcement parties.

Lee has encouraged three new ATMIA chapters in Australasia, South Africa and Canada, plus a new Web site portal to East Europe and has been an integral player in the creation of the new Global ATM Security Alliance, which has representation from more than 10 countries to tackle the problem of worldwide ATM crime.

Best Contribution to Promoting the Interests and Growth of the ATM Industry (organizational category): Palm Desert National Bank (PDNB). According to Cardtronics, which submitted one of several nominations for PDNB, the bank has been the driving force behind the increased vault cash liquidity available to Cardtronics and the entire ATM industry. The nomination lauded PDNB's new ATM Cash Advantage funding program, which allows financial intuitions to provide liquidity to ATM owners and allows them greater flexibility in meeting their cash needs.

"This has resulted in a new understanding of the financial viability and legitimacy of the ISO marketplace and an opportunity for both financial institutions and ISOs to benefit," according to the nomination.  "In addition, the program offers immediate economy of scale by leveraging a network of independent banks that provide vault cash liquidity more efficiently and with less risk than in the past. This strategic partnership between financial institutions and ISOs will upgrade the safety and soundness of the nation's entire ATM industry, resulting in greater consumer confidence and paving the way for future innovations."