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All about the apps at NACS Show 2002

The buzz about advanced ATM functionality is becoming a roar, judging by some of the ready-for-rollout applications on display at NACS Show 2002.

October 15, 2002

ORLANDO, Fla. -- ATM deployers have been talking the advanced functionality talk for years, buzzing about services such as check cashing, money orders and cell phone top-ups.

2002 may be remembered as the year they started walking the walk.

At the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) Show 2002, Oct. 5-8 at the spacious Orange County Convention Center, ATM exhibitors showed machines equipped with advanced functions not just in development, but ready for rollout. They were talking projections, using phrases like "no brainer" to describe the options for merchants with ATMs.

The NACS show, of course, provided plenty of distractions for the 20,000 in attendance, from the ever-popular porn stars at the Hustler display to free beer samples to tastes of energy drinks, frozen drink concoctions and food, food, and more food. Nonetheless, this editor found time to discover these news nuggets and rumors from the show:

Location, location, location: Tommy Glenn's Financial Technologies Inc. booth was distanced far from the technology section in a general merchandise area. Glenn, one of the leading proponents of advanced functionality among ISOs, said he wanted to be in a spot fronting the show and didn't mind being the only ISO in an acre of tobacco and candy products.

Asked if he had anything to do with the proximity of the Hustler booth, directly behind FTI, Glenn gave a terse "no comment."

If it looks like a kiosk...: Glenn's showcase product was a new Lipman ATM with a cash acceptor that he believes will appeal to non-banked customers. The machine was equipped to sell prepaid cellular time, prepaid long distance, money orders and check cashing. "It's really more of a kiosk," he said. "I hope that's where manufacturers are going."

Headed that way: Anthony Quiroz, Lipman USA's ATM relationship manager, said the new NURIT 6000 can be equipped to handle several advanced functions, including wireless phone time, gift and loyalty cards and money transfers. "It's more of a kiosk than an ATM," he said. "We're trying to change the industry with this on the ATM side. People haven't seen anything like it." The Nuvit 6000 is manufactured in Spain, with electronics added in Israel.

Worst-kept secret: Sam Jonas, owner (?) of Cash Resources, was in a jovial mood at NACS, and not just because his Tennessee Volunteers won a six-overtime thriller against Arkansas Saturday night. Jonas held court in the Access Cash booth, accepting congratulatory handshakes and fielding questions about his next move. Access Cash's Todd Hannon declined to confirm rumors that Cash Resources was recently acquired by Access Cash parent eFunds, referring questions to eFunds' corporate office. 

Jonas, meanwhile, claims to be taking a wait-and-see stance on the next option for ConvenienTV, the company he started in late 1999 to focus on ATM advertising.

Making Waves: Tritonchose the NACS Show to introduce its entry in the advanced functionality wars - Triton Waves. Anita Nobles Arguelles, marketing manager, said the program thus far consists of three services: prepaid cell phone time offered through Euronet, Western Union money transfers and CashWorks check cashing.

"Everybody's looking for the killer app, but it really can't be one thing," she said. "These are easy to do and add revenue for the merchant."

Arguelles said Triton expects to begin pilots in November, with programs presented to ISOs by the end of the year. She said that initial feedback, including from Triton distributors attending NACS, had been positive.

Only the beginning: Triton is the second ATM manufacturer to jump on board the CashWorks bandwagon. Ken Rees, chief executive of CashWorks, said an exclusive three-month agreement with Tidel expired in August; Triton is one of several manufacturers he hopes to seal deals with in the next 12 months.

CashWorks CEO Ken Rees with the PayPort terminal used for authorizing check cashing transactions in the CashWorks program.

"We hope for one more before the end of the year," Rees said during an interview in the Tidelbooth.

Rees, a former InnoVentry executive, said his CashWorks program works because merchants can break even on the cost with as few as 25 monthly transactions, compared to more than 800 required with InnoVentry. He predicted that check cashing will be a c-store necessity in the near future.

Noting that there are currently 100 ATMs in the program, Rees said his goal is to reach 1,000 terminals by the end of 2003.

Seeing is believing: Cardtronics'EVP Brian Archer is among those sold on offering check cashing to merchants through CashWorks. His rationale sounds simple. "Merchants are doing it (check cashing) today. They understand it," he said. "They haven't had a way to eliminate risk and cash the check."

According to Archer, one of Cardtronics' 13 pilot locations cashes more than 600 checks per month. Archer said the ISO plans to launch a new sales campaign in the next two weeks targeting owners of 4,000 ATMs controlled by Cardtronics. He said the price to merchants for hardware and setting up the system is negotiable, with a ceiling of $1,995.

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