News

European expansion for Hanco

A year-and-a-half after deploying his first ATM in the UK, Tom Hannon of Hanco Systems is ready to take on the rest of Europe. He's hired Sherif Seddik, NCR's former director of worldwide marketing and business development, to lead the charge.

January 21, 2002

When Tom Hannon deployed his first ATM in the UK in July of 2000, he was already talking about expanding his business to other European countries. "We think the UK will be a catalyst into the rest of Europe for us," he said then. 

"We're going into other parts of Europe at the end of the year. 2002 will be the big year," the president and CEO of Hanco Systems reiterated in another interview with ATMmarketplace in August of 2001.

Lest anyone think that Hannon is not a man of his word, he just established a new company called Hanco International ATM Ltd. in Ireland.

Sherif Seddik, managing director of Hanco ATM International Ltd., headquartered in Ireland.

To lead the company, he hired Sherif Seddik, formerly director of worldwide marketing and business development for NCR. In his 13 years with NCR, he helped developed that company's retail ATM business, including launching the EasyPoint brand.

"This really signals our intention to become the number one provider of ATM sales and service on the continent," Hannon said.

Noting that Seddik is a well-known authority on European banking and network regulations, Hannon added, "We're committed to putting key people in the right places. This is proof of that."

After establishing Hanco Systems, the company he founded in 1995, as one of the most successful independent deployers in the U.S. (it's listed as the country's fifth-largest ISO, with 4,500 ATMs under contract, in the 2002 EFT Data Book published by ATM & Debit News), Hannon founded the UK's Hanco ATM Systems Ltd. in the summer of 2000. That company became one of the first five independents admitted into LINK, the UK's national ATM network.

Seddik said he welcomes the opportunity to work for Hanco, categorizing the company as "quite successful" in the UK. "My role with NCR was to try to help develop the international convenience market. This gives me an opportunity to practice what I've been preaching."

It will also provide an outlet for him to get in touch with his inner entrepreneur. "Speed is not one of a large company's strong points," Seddik said.

While the retail ATM market in the UK has taken off quickly – with Hanco deploying 1,500 machines in its first year-and-a-half – Seddik said "we're not expecting immediate success" elsewhere on the Continent.

Noting that a few UK banks had relationships with independent deployers even before LINK eased some of its regulations to make the environment more friendly to ISOs, Seddik said, "Some of the groundwork had been done already in the UK. This time I think we'll have to do more of that ourselves."

Hanco is up to the challenge, Seddik said, because of its strong focus on customer service. "That gives you a much better chance of being successful anywhere," he said.

Hanco is also "religious" about establishing an infrastructure to support its network, Seddik said, which is a requirement to do business in Europe.

Indeed, Hannon said he spent a year preparing his UK business and made "over a seven figure investment" before installing his first machine there. He built a 7,500-square-foot office, rented warehouse space to inventory machines and parts and hired a full-time staff of 35, including 14 service technicians.

While Ireland might not seem like a logical place to establish an ATM empire, Seddik said the country has a large pool of well-educated, multi-lingual prospective employees as it's the European headquarters for Microsoft, Oracle and other high-tech companies.

And, he added, "the government has done a good job of making it attractive for business."

Although the UK is currently the only European country to allow ATM surcharges, the raison d'etre for most retail ATMs in the U.S., Seddik expects that may change in the next year or so. And, he added, "there are countries in Europe where the interchange rates alone make it a favorable environment for retail deployments."

Hanco is a strong advocate of merchant cash replenishment, a staple of the domestic retail market but used infrequently elsewhere. While Seddik said it "remains to be seen" whether it will work in countries other than the U.S., he believes it may create an opportunity for Hanco.

"The restrictions imposed by cash-in-transit companies are one reason that contributes to the low number of retail deployments in some European countries," he said.