First American Payment Systems buys 75 ATMs from Amex

FORT WORTH, Texas -- First American Payment Systems, Inc. ,a privately-owned corporation that provides electronic credit card authorization and payment systems to retail, mail order, telephone order, Internet and home-based merchants throughout the U.S., will purchase 75 ATMs from American Express.

The machines are located in major branded gas stations/convenience stores throughout the Chicago, Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth areas. Terms for the transaction were not disclosed.

The acquisition of additional ATMs is part of First American's goal to increase its presence as a national ATM provider. First American anticipates a gain in operating efficiencies and lower overall operational costs for the ATMs.

"This acquisition is the first of many that First American hopes to complete this year. We are actively seeking additional transactions," said Neil L. Randel, president and CEO. "Since we began operating in the ATM business in 1998, First American has actively pursued additional growth for our ATM division."

First American's divisions include national ATM deployment, Secur-Chex check guarantee, FirstPay.Net e-commerce payment gateway and Merimac Capital POS equipment and ATM leasing.

American Express recently became the country's second-largest ATM owner, following the purchase of more than 4,000 machines from Plano, Texas-based EDS.