BERLIN and LEAWOOD, Kan. -- Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (Nasdaq: EEFT), says that it will benefit from an interchange fee increase that is being applied by its outsourcing partner bank on all of the 369 ATMs serviced by Euronet in Germany.
Recently, German banks lifted restrictions that require a fixed, transaction interchange fee for domestic Eurocheck (EC) cards, enabling ATM owners to establish their own ATM usage fees. Euronet's outsourcing partner bank, which it did not identify, has raised its fee by approximately 20 percent, from DM 4.00 to EUR 2.50 (DM 4.89) on its ATMs across Germany.
The increase on Euronet-serviced ATMs will go to Euronet as revenues under its ATM service agreement, according to a company news release. Transactions from Eurocheck cards account for almost 90 percent of the total transactions performed on ATMs serviced by Euronet in Germany.
"Germany has accounted for approximately 16 percent of Euronet's revenues in the first half of 2001. The fee increase could affect transaction demand, but we anticipate that the net result will be an increase in revenues," said Michael Brown, chairman and chief executive officer of Euronet Worldwide, Inc.
Euronet Worldwide has processing centers located in the U.S., Europe and Asia, and owns and operates the largest independent ATM network in Europe. With corporate headquarters in Leawood, Kan., and European headquarters in Budapest, Hungary, Euronet has business activities in 60 countries.
