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The installation of the first of four ATM-X machines at a Rent-Way store in Las Vegas marks a "milestone" in his company's business plan, according to Cash Technologies chairman and CEO Bruce Korman. Los Angeles-based Cash Tech, perhaps best know for its CoinBank self service coin deposit machines, is repositioning itself from a cash processing business into "an e-commerce innovator," Korman said. The ATM-X machines, customized Diebold 1062ix ATMs, combine several self-service and networking technologies, including Diebold's OPTix/Professional software platform and document scanning module, iris recognition devices provided by Sensar, Inc. and TCP/IP-based client software developed by Cash Tech. In addition to cash dispensing, the machines can offer check cashing, electronic bill payment, targeted advertising and other advanced functions. Cash Tech plans to deploy three more ATM-X machines at Rent-Way stores in Las Vegas during January, 2000. Currently they may be used only by Rent-Way customers, but they will open to the general public in February. Cash Tech and Rent-Way will likely work together to promote usage of the machines. "They're really like a 'business in a box.' Like any business, they'll require promotion and time to succeed," Korman said. They are the first commercially deployed units to be driven by Cash Tech's EMMA (E-commerce Message Management Architecture) transaction processing platform. EMMA's open-architecture platform allows a wide range of financial services, including Internet-based products, to be delivered on ATMs, kiosks and online PCs. One of the first widely-available applications is check cashing. Korman said that Cash Tech's system, unlike those of competitors like San Francisco-based InnoVentry and San Diego-based Greenland Corporation, does not rely on a call center to enroll customers -- or do much of anything else. "The purpose of our call center is not to facilitate customer enrollment or a check-cashing transaction. It's more of a fallback," Korman said. The EMMA platform gives the ATM-X a "leg up" over other multi-function machines, Korman said. "The other guys built a check-cashing machine, then started talking about adding other features. We started with a flexible architecture that allows us to process multiple types of transactions, then went from there." Rent-Way has approximately 1,114 rent-to-own stores. According to Korman, many Rent-Way customers visit their local stores each week to make rental payments and shop for furniture and appliances. And many of them do not have bank accounts. "Because of that, it didn't really make sense for (Rent Way) to have an ATM in the store," Korman said, "but it does make them a good candidate for a multifunction machine like the ATM-X." Eventually, Korman envisions Cash Tech as providing electronic message specifications, based upon the EMMA platform, to hardware manufacturers like NCR and Diebold so that they can write their own software. He wants to "empower" those manufacturers rather than compete with them. "The great thing about that is, it empowers everybody in that space making money -- manufacturers, ISOs and retailers -- to make more," he said. In a related matter, Cash Technologies announced that it completed a private offering of its securities, consisting of convertible notes and redeemable common stock purchase warrants, on Jan. 5, 2000, raising approximately $3,350,000 in gross proceeds. The notes are due and payable in July, 2001 and bear interest at 10 percent a year. Cash Tech incurred approximately $400,000 in offering expenses, consisting of legal costs, sales commissions and other related costs. The offering was completed through GunnAllen Financial, Inc., a NASD member firm, which served as placement agent. GunnAllen received commissions equal to approximately $335,000 and will be reimbursed for its expenses. "This financing will provide us with additional working capital needed to complete our business plan to become a leading force in e-commerce through the continued development and deployment of the Company's EMMA software and ATM-X machines," Korman said.