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Industry is ready for its close-up at ATMIA show

Although there were no klieg lights or paparazzi at "ATMs Hit the Big Screen," last week's ATM Industry Association conference in Hollywood, Fla., the industry nonetheless found itself in the spotlight – and largely seemed to enjoy it.

March 10, 2002

Editor's Note: For a fascinating slide show featuring photos and captions by Kiosks.org Association executive director Craig Keefner, go to this ATMIA link on the Kiosks.org site.

 Although there were no klieg lights or paparazzi at "ATMs Hit the Big Screen," last week's ATM Industry Association conference in Hollywood, Fla., the industry nonetheless found itself in the spotlight – and largely seemed to enjoy it.

As the industry attains a higher profile, however, the threat of increased attention from regulatory agencies seems to be growing. One of the hottest tickets was a presentation by Martin Elliott of Visa International, detailing Visa's new enhanced ISO risk standards. (See related story Visa: New ISO risk standards will help prevent fraud.)

Here's what else caught this editor's eye and ear:

From the parking garage to the penthouse: The Westin Diplomat may be one of the nicest show venues ever. The meeting rooms, exhibit hall, buffet tables and other amenities eclipsed those at last year's show in Clearwater, Fla., where the exhibits were somewhat infamously housed in a hotel parking garage.

Rooms with a view – and good coffee: Those staying at the Westin, like me, may have been tempted to feign a virus and stay in the room. Among my favorite features: balcony with beach view, cushy velour robe, Starbucks coffee and bed laden with good mattress, down comforter and large stack of pillows.

Good news, bad news: In his Day One keynote address "Future Trends in Electronic Payments," NYCE Corporation Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President Steven Rathgaber said ATM volumes are "stagnating" while POS volumes are "soaring," with a projected 60 percent growth by 2005. However, he said, "ATMs will evolve, not disappear" and will operate side-by-side with future payment vehicles, much the same way that debit and checks co-exist today.

A lock on encryption: Core Data Resources is partnering with the biggest retail ATM manufacturers – Tidel, Tranax Technologies and Triton – on a procedure to make it easier and less expensive for deployers to comply with encryption standards. The standards, which are supposed to reduce fraud, require two service techs to visit an ATM to install unique numeric keys, which are used to protect PINs. Under agreements with the three manufacturers, Core Data will provide keys so they can be installed at the factory, eliminating the need for field visits. The manufacturers notify Core Data on which keys were installed in which ATMs, so the processor can active them when the machines are brought online. Tranax began shipping ATMs with keys this month; Tidel and Triton will do so in the next month or so. Tranax's Hansup Kwon said key installation will only add about $25 to the cost of a Tranax ATM.

GTI National Sales Director Danny Langston shows off the new TTW 1000, a new through-the-wall unit, to ATMmarketplace editor Ann All.

What about the other 863?: In his address on "How to Survive in a Mature ATM Industry," Speer & Associates Senior Vice President Les Riedl noted that there is one ATM for every 864 people in the U.S. today. That compares to one ATM per 1,100 people in Japan and one per 1,300 people in Canada.

Pick a plan: Riedl outlined four strategies he believes are valid for ATM deployers in today's mature marketplace: become a niche player with a specialty, such as casino deployments; adopt a harvest strategy by limiting new investments, reducing costs and divesting before value erodes; become a consolidator by "taking out the competition," pushing your brand and pricing aggressively to obtain locations; or divest, keeping in mind that "those who go early can command a higher price."

Against the wall: GTI's new through-the-wall unit, the TTW 1000, is designed to withstand weather extremes, according to GTI National Sales Director Danny Langston. It has a stainless steel fascia, a weatherized card reader that's slanted downward to keep out the elements and a high brightness, 5.7-inch LCD display that is designed to operate in temperatures from 0-150 degrees Fahrenheit. The unit will fit into a 21 ½-inch-by-17 ½-inch opening. Langston said the wholesale cost is about $4,000.

Lynk's temporary tattoo, modeled by Carrie Nakanishi, manager of ATM distributor support.

Best booth tchotkes: Lynk Systems, with bright orange beverage huggers that resembled tiny lifejackets and cool temporary tattoos. Carrie Nakanishi, Lynk's manager of ATM distributor support, also was excited about recent updates to Lynk's Web-based reporting tool, ATMAssist. According to Nakanishi, clients will soon be able to request terminal ID numbers and get terminal balances online.

Most practical booth tchotke: Bantek, with lip balm.

Also practical: Core Data delivered beach towels emblazoned with the words "We've got you covered" to attendees' rooms.

The deepest cut: In his Day Two keynote "Mature but Not Saturated," NCR Convenience Touchpoints Vice President Neal Schwartz joked that maybe he should pass out razor blades after the Day One presentations, several of which featured statistics on steadily declining per-machine ATM volumes.

Behavior modification: The key to future ATM growth, Schwartz said, is to convince consumers to change their habits and use the ATM to do more than just withdraw cash. He encouraged deployers to promote services at the ATM by expressing the benefit to the user rather than the availability of the service. So, for example, "Save a trip to the post office" rather than "Stamps available here."

The big tent: Several large ISOs are reportedly in friendly talks to determine how to combine their networks to offer advanced functionality on a large scale, the theory being that ubiquity is the best way to get ATM users to accept heretofore unusual concepts such as prepaid cellular phone recharges or money order issuance. While similar efforts to offer ATM advertising en masse largely failed, the industry seems to be approaching the issue with renewed resolve.

Interesting idea: A deployer specializing in mobile events like fairs, music festivals and sporting events – and who must remain nameless (because I lost his business card) – is interested in offering full motion-video advertising at his ATMs. "Full-motion video didn't work because it didn't have the volumes to support it," he told me. "I've got the volume." He said people attending these events are already receptive to advertising in unexpected places – company logos plastered on stock cars, for instance.

Road show: For service techs on the go, WRG Services created MobiTerm, a handheld unit based on a Hypercom ICE 4000 terminal with a built-in printer and modem. Jason Kuhn, WRG's general manager, said it's especially handy for large ISOs with several different service technicians on call or for small ISOs that may not have laptops. According to Kuhn, a tech can dial in via a phone line and download electronic journals, reset errors or perform any other function they usually do via a PC, with the exception of loading graphics.

Also for road warriors: It looked a little like a pizza oven, but the purpose of the trailer in Access to Money's booth is to protect the dough, not bake it. The rugged metal trailer was designed by Access to Money Chief Executive Officer Doug Falcone, who suffered some losses at Woodstock '99 when marauding concertgoers tried to break into a dozen Triton 9600s he took to that event. Access to Money is leasing the trailers to deployers interested in mobile events.

Little white lie: While stressing the importance of remote monitoring of ATMs in his address "ISOs and the Placement/Partnership ATM Market," ATM Center President and CEO Bruce Kreeger said his company had experienced problems with merchants shutting down machines at night, rendering monitoring software useless. "So we fib a little bit," Kreeger said. "We tell them there's a federal regulation saying they can't turn their machine off at night."

Tidel's newest machine, the is800, is its lowest-priced ATM ever.

Biggest booth crowds: Tidel, where attendees got a demonstration of a check-cashing program that the manufacturer is offering to its distributors in partnership with CashWorks, and checked out Tidel's newest ATM. Mark Levenick, Tidel's interim chief executive officer, said the new is800 is the company's lowest-priced machine and thus a good fit for low-volume locations. Tidel cut costs primarily by replacing its standard dispenser with a lower capacity model that holds 800 notes. It's good to see the company moving forward with new products and services.

Biggest buzz: The aforementioned CashWorks check-cashing program. Created by several ex-InnoVentry executives, the program requires only a software tweak to an existing ATM and a proprietary POS terminal called PayPort. A clerk initiates transactions at the PayPort terminal, then customers collect their cash at the ATM. Unlike other advanced applications, which typically require larger upfront investments, deployers can break even at just 25 transactions a month. Tidel's Levenick said that $600,000 worth of checks were cashed – with no more advertising than in-store banners – in the first few weeks of a six-location pilot. All new Tidel terminals will ship with CashWorks software, beginning in April.

On the cutting edge: NCR took representatives of several large ISOs through its Room 504, which highlights futuristic concepts produced by the manufacturer's Advanced Technology Group in Dundee, Scotland. While the room featured fewer concepts than those shown to financial institutions at December's BAI Retail Delivery Show in Anaheim, Calif., the tours demonstrated NCR's commitment to the retail ATM market and presented some intriguing "what ifs" for deployers.

Included In This Story

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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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Triton Systems

Triton FI based products • NO Windows 10™ Upgrade • Secured locked down system that is virus/malware resistant • Flexible configurations - Drive-up and Walk-up • Triton's high security standards • NFC, anti-skim card reader, IP camera and level 1 vaults are all options • Triton Connect monitoring • Lower cost

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