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charityATM makes it easy for ATM deployers to give

While the ATM industry is not generally noted for its warm and fuzzy mentality, Robert Greene of charityATM thinks deployers can feel good about themselves -- and enjoy other benefits -- by donating a percentage of their transaction revenues to charities.

May 1, 2003

Robert Greene admits that it's been difficult to encourage philanthropy in an industry not generally noted for its warm-and-fuzzy mentality.

"It's surprised me how skeptical people can be," said Greene, the executive director ofcharityATM. "It's hard to make an entrepreneur realize how they can benefit from helping others."

Greene, who until recently ran an ISO called First ATM of Ontario, last year created the charityATM Foundation, through which he hopes to connect charities and ATM deployers.

The idea is for deployers to donate 1 percent of their transaction revenues to charities of their choice. An additional membership fee goes to Greene to cover the costs of administering the program. In return, deployers help promote charities of their choice as well as enjoy a public relations benefit.

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"I think the industry as a whole needs to change people's perceptions. Right now, the community at large thinks the ATM business is filled with money hungry behemoths," said Greene, referring to the public's ire over ATM fees.

Deployers may also experience a boost in transactions, Greene said. Citing research conducted by theCanadian Centre for Philanthropythat shows that more than 90 percent of Canadians prefer to deal with companies that affiliate themselves with charitable organizations, he said it's possible that consumers may begin seeking out ATMs carrying a charityATM sticker, which indicates a deployer's participation in the program.

Greene has a list of participating ATM locations on his Web site, currently 11 ATMs in five cities.

In today's highly competitive environment, Greene believes deployers can differentiate themselves by currying a closer relationship with ATM users. "I think it makes sense to create familiarity between yourself and your end users," he said. "Right now, they don't know who you are."

Pamela Samson, president of First ATM of the Kawarthas, an ISO with a handful of machines under contract that she and her husband Fernand purchased from Greene, said the charityATM concept has played well with merchants in their service area, the Canadian city of Peterborough.

"When we tell them we're supporting a charity, they like that," said Samson, who donates 1 percent of First ATM's revenues to Kawarthas Food Share, an organization that distributes supplies to food banks.

Samson said that she and her husband also appreciate the opportunity to set aside funds for a worthy charity. "We think it's important to give back to the local community."

On receiving side

The charityATM Foundation is also designed to empower charities. Greene, who directed marketing efforts for Save the Children Canada from 1998 to 2000, said that charitable groups are "under a lot of constraints as to how they can raise funds."

On his charityATM Web site, Greene offers tips to charities on how to negotiate with ATM deployers. For instance, he suggests that a charity could ask for a higher percentage of fee revenue in exchange for the right to display its name on the ATM, based on the idea that a specific charity name would promote increased ATM usage.

Deployers can choose to donate to any of six charities listed on Greene's Web site or designate another charity.

The right crowd

When the large Canadian banks to whom he first presented the charityATM idea passed on the concept, Greene decided that credit unions and ISOs were a more logical audience. Credit unions generally have a stronger community focus than larger banks, he said. And ISOs are particularly concerned about the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency's interest in levying an excise tax on interchange income. (See related storyCanada to collect 7 percent excise tax on interchange)

"I thought the (tax) deduction on (portions of revenue donated to charities) might help ISOs offset some of the added tax expense," Greene said.

For assistance in contacting ISOs, Greene turned to transaction processors likeTNS Smart Network, which included the charityATM concept in its spring newsletter.

William Elson, the processor's vice president of customer operations, said that while TNS, which processes nearly two million transactions a month at some 4,000 ATMs, encourages its ISO clients to "make their own inquiries" with Greene, TNS considers Greene reputable based upon its previous business relationship with him as an ISO.

Greene, who distributed informational brochures about charityATM to attendees of the recentATM Industry Association-sponsored "ATMs in the Americas" conference in Miami, said he hopes to export the concept to the U.S.

While he knows it will be a challenge, he thinks the ATM business is a good match for charityATM. "I wanted to work with a relatively new industry, in hopes that (charityATM) could catch on and grow as the industry does."