LAS VEGAS - The ATM Industry Association (ATMIA), and its European arm, ATMIA Europe, will continue a global expansion in 2002 by holding two new conferences in Australia and Hungary.
The organization releases its 2002 show schedule at its 2001 Conference West, "The New Frontier for ATMs." The association will repeat all three of its 2001 shows next year. The first will take place in Hollywood, Fla. Feb. 19-22 and be called "ATMs Hit the Big Screen." On April 17-19, a follow-up event focused on security, "Total ATM Security & Servicing," will be held in London for the second time. ATMIA did not announce a venue for a repeat of ATMIA West, but said it would take place in late October.
The first-ever ATMIA show in the Asia-Pacific region will occur at Sydney's Convention & Exhibition Centre May 27-29. Called Pacific ATMs 2002, it will accelerate the organization's plan to extend to a region with plenty of ATM activity, according to ATMIA International Director Mike Lee.
"The market is unregulated, it's sort of like the Wild West, and people are doing their own thing," Lee said, who added that the trade show should attract plenty of interest from financial institutions and independent deployers.
"We thought for a long time about an appropriate venue as we planned setting up ATMIA in Asia," said Lee, who traveled from London to attend ATMIA West. "In the end Sydney won out. We received a call from Australian independent deployers who were about to form their own group. They contacted us and asked about ATMIA."
Lee added that ACI Worldwide, a sponsoring member of ATMIA Europe, had recently emphasized Australia in its future plans.
The organization said it will call its show in Budapest, Hungary, which will take place in late September, "Optimising European ATMs." Exact dates and the venue haven't yet been selected.
Lana Harmelink, ATMIA's director of operations, international, said the 2002 schedule reflects the organization's growth. She said ATMIA has seen a 30 percent increase in membership.
For next February's show in Florida, the keynote speaker will be Bill Raymond, senior vice president, ATM management and development for Bank of America. She said that is part of an ATMIA effort to reach out to banks.
"We're working to get financial institutions and card issuers into our shows," she said. "We're talking about two tracks, one for ISOs and one for banks."
About 300 people attended the two-day ATMIA West show, and about three dozen companies had booths on the exhibit floor.
