NAAIO and ASCP have combined their organizations to create the National ATM Council to better represent the interests of the nation’s independent ATM operators, according to the newly appointed executive director Bruce Renard.

The NAAIO and the ASCP, which last week announced the formation of the Council, will eventually be phased out entirely.

"NAC will be our combined go-forward organization," Renard said. "The way the organizations differ are NAAIO was more of an ISO organization and ASCP was non-ISOs, although there was some overlap between the two. We decided that it made better sense for the industry as a whole to combine our resources." 

Curt Selman of Selman Telecommunications Investment Group LLC has been chosen to serve as NAC’s first chairman and Jim Cabe of Cabe & Cato Inc. will serve as vice-chairman. Lawrence Exe of Business Resource Group Inc. and Jerri Cerniglia of Edge One Inc. will serve as secretary and treasurer, respectively.

"The NAC will provide a strong industry voice and will have the critical mass needed to assure the industry’s views and positions are known by the nation’s policymakers,” Cabe said.

Video surveillance and dispute management solution
ATMeye^.iQ video security management solution reduces the risks of fraud and vandalism, resolves conflicts with clients, and allows monitor security events 24/7 to whole ATM network remotely. Watch ATMeye.iQ video.

Renard said the organization would focus solely on U.S. non-bank ATM providers. NAC’s membership will include a majority of the independently owned ATMs in the U.S.
 
"There have been a lot of different voices in the ATM industry versus one clear strong voice. There's also been a recognition throughout the industry that we need to have a more impactful presence in Washington than we have had up until now, partly because it's been so scattered," Renard said.

Warren Cato of Cabe & Cato Inc., a provider of ATM processing optimization services, acknowledged that the formation of the Council came out of a feeling that non-bank ATM operators and service providers in the U.S. were not being heard, even though they represent approximately half of the ATMs deployed throughout the country.

"We certainly want to be apprised of what is going on in the other countries around the world, but we want things to be right here in the U.S. We want to make sure there is a good voice out there for the non-bank ATM providers," Renard said.

NAC joins the ATM Industry Association as another industry organization representing ISOs, thus creating the potential for overlap. Cato said that while ATMIA has a committee in place to represent ISOs, the Independent ATM Deployers Committee, the NAC is an entire association dedicated to that segment of the industry.

"Our function is to protect the ISOs' interests, as opposed to being a committee in a bigger organization that became interested in the ISOs in the last four or five years," Cato said.

ATMIA has about 2,000 members in 60 countries, with chapters in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. NAC has more than 75 members already, many of which are also ATMIA members, according to Renard.

Renard emphasized that the association does anticipate and is looking forward to working with ATMIA wherever the two organizations have common issues and interests.

The first and most pressing issues on the Council's agenda include the implementation of the ADA requirements for ATMs, the ramifications of the Durbin Amendment and the effects of EMV card rollouts, according to Renard and Cato.

"Our industry requires an organization focused on promoting the interests of the nation’s independent ATM owners and ensuring the continued widespread availability of independent ATM locations for the convenience of the American consumer," Selman said. "The unification of NAAIO and ASCP to form NAC is a significant step in achieving this focus."

The NAC is a 501 C (6) not-for-profit trade association with its national headquarters located in Jacksonville, Fla. 

For more information on this topic, please visit our associations/conferences research center.