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Access to Money to move to surcharge-free withdrawals

The independent ATM deployer reported declines in total transactions and withdrawal transactions for the 12-month period, ending Dec. 31, 2010, compared with the 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2009.

April 2, 2011

Access to Money Inc., a Cherry Hill, N.J.-based independent ATM deployer, will provide surcharge-free ATM access to clients to boost transactions and increase Access to Money's profitability. 

According to a United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, and a news release, Access to Money officials said they are expanding their surcharge-free offerings to their full-placement locations with The Pantry, a Cary, N.C.-based convenience-store chain that operates 1,650 Kangaroo Express stores in 13 states.

Access to Money is installing approximately 1,400 Select-A-Branch-enabled ATMs in Kangaroo Express storesin 11 states. Access to Money announced the agreement in December 2010.

"The profitability of the new contract is in large part dependent on the ability to increase transaction counts at each location by introducing our 'surcharge-free' program," said Richard Stern, Access to Money's president and CEO. "We have already started to deploy these new ATMs, which are equipped with the ability to offer customers surcharge-free transactions while providing us with a reimbursement for these transactions."

The independent ATM deployer reported declines in total transactions and withdrawal transactions for the 12-month period, ending Dec. 31, 2010, compared with the 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2009.

At the end of 2010, Access to Money reported total transactions of 39,843,094 million compared with 43,330,209 million at the end of 2009. Cash withdrawal transactions also fell in 2010 to 31,953,828 million compared with 34,632,128 million at the end of 2009.

The company, however, operated fewer ATMs in 2010 compared with 2009. The average number of transacting ATMs last year was 10,794 compared with 11,265 in 2009.

"This decrease was primarily due to normal attrition and the removal of 465 ATMs due to the non-renewal of a customer contract, which occurred in June 2010," company officials said in an SEC filing. "The decrease in the number of transacting machines contributed to a 2.7 million, or 7.7 percent, decrease in the number of withdrawal transactions between 2010 and 2009." 

Access to Money believes that by providing surcharge-free ATM access to The Pantry's customers, it will increase transactions and revenues.

"We promote the benefits of our surcharge-free ATM program as an alternative to the traditional format under which the ATM charges a fee for cash withdrawal," Access to Money officials said in the SEC filing. "Our experience has shown that surcharge-free ATMs result in increased transaction volume in retail environments. In tests we conducted at two major convenience-store retailers, we have seen transaction levels increase by as much as 100 percent, with revenue levels remaining constant or increasing."

Participating financial institutions pay a per transaction fee for their customers' use of the ATM.

Will Access to Money see an increase in transactions with a surcharge-free format?