Article

New attitude

From its inception two years ago, The ATM Industry Association emerges as an energetic group with a growing membership and new ideas. by Katherine L. Sears, associate editor

March 11, 2002

Like a toddler who has learned how to run, the two-year-old ATM Industry Association (ATMIA) is bounding with fresh energy. It has acquired new members, a new name and new programs. Formerly known as the ATM Owners Association (ATMOA), the group changed its name to better represent its increasingly diverse membership. While most of the association's original members were individual ATM owners, ATMIA has grown to include larger ISOs and banks. ATMIA's new name also reflects the need that many members have for networking with other industry insiders through the association. The executive board agreed that substituting �industry� for �owner� would be more inclusive. Besides ISOs and financial institutions, the membership includes other deployers, vault cash companies and security companies. �We realized that the name ATM Owners (Association) was a misnomer for what we were doing and what we were trying to get done,� said Shelley Kinslow, ATMIA's new executive director. �Our new name reflects our broadened strategy.� One of the major benefits offered to members is the opportunity to purchase low cost insurance for machines. According to Kinslow, lowering insurance premiums has helped drive membership over the past several months. �The insurance program is just an unbelievable deal for owners,� she said. Since March, membership has grown from 132 to 192, representing between 2,000 and 2,500 ATMs. In addition, the number of insured ATMs has risen from 350 in March to 625 this month. United we stand ATMIA president Lyle Elias offers another theory for the growth: It stems from the association's primary purpose of serving as a means to unite the industry. �I think people recognize the fact that an ATM association is a way of bringing people in the industry together into a format for networking and sharing of information,� said Elias, president of Greenlink Technologies, a Hurst, Texas-based manufacturer. The creation of ATMIA breaks new ground in terms of trade associations, because there is no other organization that focuses exclusively on the ATM industry and isn't part of a larger group. �I think it probably came out of a number of vendors recognizing that there was just no cohesive representation out there,� Kinslow said, adding that the association lends some professionalism to an industry that is sometimes plagued by credibility problems. �A big concern of a lot of folks in the ATM industry has been those fly-by-night ISOs who have been out there, people who sell me a machine and then they're gone,� Kinslow said. ATMIA's networking opportunities can help members identify legitimate operators. Banking on membership When the association began in late 1997, founder Tom Harper said it would strive to unite banks and the private sides of the industry into a �single entity.� To help achieve that, Kinslow said, ATMIA wants to become an educational resource for both independents and banks active in off-premise deployment. �Another of the long-term goals of the association is to focus on legislative representation and what the government is trying to do to the industry. That affects banks as well as individual owners,� Kinslow said. Eventually, ATMIA plans to enact a �lobbying-type� committee,� she added. Elias said that he believes in time, more financial institutions will realize the benefits of joining an organization that applies its efforts toward ATM issues. He doesn't see the smaller ISO feeling alienated as a result of ATMIA's future plans to bring more financial institutions into the fold. �I think it's just the opposite. More and more banks, and particularly the small banks, look to ISOs for terminal management and deployment,� Elias said. �As smaller banks begin to deploy their own off-premise ATMs, which a lot of the smaller banks and credit unions are starting to do, I think really everybody's interest is kind of the same.� Going global ATMIA may take on a more global appearance in the future. Elias said he would like to see the group form an international chapter. �I think the markets overseas are inevitably going to open up for non-bank owned ATMs, but also ATMs owned by financial institutions will continue to proliferate,� he said. For Kinslow, who hails from a background in the travel industry, the biggest personal challenge in overseeing such a specialized group has been learning about the ATM industry on an in-depth level. Her previous jobs included handling incentive travel programs for a performance improvement company and later, overseeing the operations of a small travel franchising company. However, Kinslow said that overseeing the operations of a non-profit association like the ATMIA is �no different from running any other business.� With her hiring in March, the ATMIA began gearing itself to pursue its overall mission of serving as an advocacy and educational resource for the ATM industry. Before her arrival, day-to-day tasks were handled by the executive board, which consists of entrepreneurs volunteering their time to the association. Elias said that Kinslow has been instrumental in keeping ATMIA on track. �(With) everybody having their own businesses to run, it's hard to focus on a daily basis (on ATMIA). I think Shelley has done an excellent job in that area.� ATMIA recently introduced two new programs to enhance benefits: the corporate insurance program and the corporate sponsorship. Under the corporate insurance program, manufacturers sign up to offer purchasers of their machines a free six-month membership to ATMIA. The manufacturer also pays for a month of insurance for that customer. Companies who become corporate sponsors can gain certain member benefits, depending on the level of investment they make to the association. Under the premier sponsorship, companies will be mentioned in all ATMIA marketing information, receive a link on ATMIA's web site, a seat on the board of directors and other benefits. Big talkers One of Kinslow's primary responsibilities has been planning the ATMIA's first industry trade conference, set for Feb. 23-25, 2000 in Orlando, Fla. It's the association's first effort to present itself as an educational vehicle for members, as well as for other industry insiders. Kinslow said, �There's going to be some fun and some different things that happen at the conference that are not typical of most seminar type conferences that people (usually) attend.� Orlando was selected as the conference site based on its proximity to a majority of ATMIA members, many of whom are located in the Southeast. The city's easy accessibility and its weather were also positive draws. Scheduled speakers include: � Ernest Burdette, president of Triton, who will speak about the global state of off premise deployment; � Frank Capan, president of Access Cash International, whose presentation is entitled �Getting ISOs and Banks Working Together�; � Neal Schwartz, vice president of ATM solutions for retail locations for NCR, who will speak on the latest developments in off-premise ATM technology; � Steve Pidgeon, vice president of ATM services for Union Federal Savings Bank, whose session is called �Creating and Profiting from Off-premise ATM Advertising Programs�; � Chris Klein, senior vice president of ATM systems for BankAtlantic, who will speak about refining the off-premise network; � Al Metzler, with Bank One, who will give an account of the lessons his institution learned with its Rapid Cash off-premise deployment program. Other speakers include ATMIA board members David Bartone, an attorney who will speak about surcharging; Randy Stratton, vice president of Electronic Cash Management, who will discuss maximizing profits with electronic cash management; and Elias, who will present �Multi-media Dispensing in Off-premise ATMs.� For those interested in joining the association: ATMIA. For information on the trade conference: Click here.

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ATM Industry Association (ATMIA)

The ATM Industry Association, founded in 1997, is a global non-profit trade association with over 10,500 members in 65 countries. The membership base covers the full range of this worldwide industry comprising over 2.2 million installed ATMs.

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