Cardtronics branding deal extends PNC's ATM presence in Florida

PNC Bank's branding agreement with Cardtronics Inc. expands the financial institution's ATM presence throughout Florida, Edward Kozmor, a bank spokesperson, tells ATMmarketplace.

"We now have 350 ATMs and 105 branches in Florida from Orlando to Fort Lauderdale and Naples to Fort Myers that meet our customers' banking needs," Kozmor says.

Cardtronics and PNC Bank Thursday announced they signed a multi-year agreement in which Cardtronics ATMs located in 230 Hess Express convenience stores throughout the Sunshine State would be branded with PNC's name and logo. The parties did not disclose the agreement's terms.

PNC cardholders, who are vacationing in Florida, traveling through the state or retired there, can withdraw funds surcharge-free from ATMs deployed in Hess stores, Kozmor says. Cardtronics will charge competing banks' cardholders an undisclosed surcharge fee, Joel Antonini, a Cardtronics spokesperson said. In addition to cash withdrawals, PNC customers can check bank balances.

PNC's and Cardtronics' deal was preceded by the Pittsburgh-based bank's October 2008 purchase of National City Corp. National City, which was based in Cleveland, owned branches and ATMs in Florida, Kozmor said. After the purchase was completed, PNC rebranded the former National City branches and ATMs with the PNC name. PNC later negotiated an ATM-branding agreement with Cardtronics.

The deal between PNC and Cardtronics, a Houston-based ATM independent sales organization, is the first the company has announced in sometime.

"When the economy slowed down, it took much longer to sign branding agreements. This is a large agreement to kick things off," Antonini says. Cardtronics owns and operates 33,700 ATMs in the United States, United Kingdom, Mexico and Puerto Rico.