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It's the infrastructure, stupid

Based upon the success of Calypso Canada, its Calgary, Alberta-based transaction processing subsidiary, Triton plans to use a similar model to enter new markets and to offer new ATM services. Recently it teamed with Transaction Network Services to create Calypso Europe.

July 22, 2003

When Triton Systems entered the Canadian ATM market in 1997, it had little trouble finding a sales force for its machines.

But support for them was another matter.

Many of its new Canadian ISOs found it difficult to gain access to Interac, the country's national ATM/POS network. Dial-up, the dominant mode of communication for Triton ATMs, was a relative novelty in the Canadian market -- not to mention CDPD and other newer telecoms that Triton distributors were using with success in the U.S.

So in 1999, Triton created Calypso Canada, a transaction processing subsidiary, to solve both of those problems.

"We are so closely involved with the off-premise market, that we figure we can do a better job than just about anyone at providing the infrastructure support for it," said Brian Kett, Triton's executive vice president.

Model that moves

Based upon the success of Calypso Canada, which is based in Calgary Alberta, Triton plans to replicate the model elsewhere. First up: the UK, where the manufacturer recently formed an alliance with Transaction Network Services (TNS) to create Calypso Europe.

While TNS provides only network backbone services and not transaction processing in the U.S., it is a processor in several Asian, Australian and European markets. As a LINK-certified service bureau, TNS can provide gateway service to the UK's national ATM network.

Ray Low, managing director for TNS UK, said the Calypso package, which includes processing, authorization, back-office operations and settlement for ATMs, lets ISOs (or IADs -- for independent ATM deployers -- as they are more commonly known in the UK), "stick to what they know best."

At the TNS data center in the UK, staffers keep an eye on all of the devices on the TNS network.

A particularly strong back-office feature, Low said, is a set of proprietary Web-based network management tools that TNS staffers in the company's UK data center use to monitor all devices on the TNS network.

"In many cases, we can deal with problems proactively, before a customer even notices," he said.

Only a few other transaction processors serve the UK market -- most notably Atmos, which is a division of LINK. According to its Web site, Atmos currently processes transactions and arranges settlement for some 95 percent of the UK's retail ATM market. Its clients include Triton distributors Hanco ATM Systems, Infocash and Scott Todd Developments.

However, Triton's Kett believes that Calypso will provide some much-needed competition for Atmos, particularly when it comes to offering new ATM transactions.

"As ATMs hopefully continue to move toward other activities beyond dispensing cash, the infrastructure has to support it," he said. "Most players need to see a relatively large critical mass before they are ready to provide a solution. But we plan to be very aggressive at supporting new features as they come out. As we help introduce services and prove concepts, we would expect other processors to want to support them as well."

Triton holds a license for Mosaic Software's Postilion platform, which has been used most prominently in the U.S. by 7-Eleven for its Vcom project. Postilion's routing and switching capabilities will facilitate offering new transactions at the ATM through Calypso, Kett said.

Making Waves

Kett said that Triton plans to use Calypso to advance Waves, its advanced functionality program. Triton has already written software to support three initial Waves transactions: money transfer through Western Union, check cashing through CashWorks and prepaid wireless and long distance through Euronet.

Some Waves services, such as prepaid wireless, may present stronger opportunities for ATM deployers in international markets, Kett said.

"The penetration of prepaid wireless is already so much higher in some of these international markets than it is in the U.S. So you're just moving it from an attended purchase to self service," he said. "In the States, you've got to get the consumer to accept prepaid wireless first."

While Kett said he would be "surprised" if Triton made any further announcements regarding Calypso expansion in the next year, he expects it to become an increasingly important element of Triton's business as the manufacturer enters other countries.

"It will go from niche to core for us in new markets," he said.

One market where one won't find Calypso? The U.S., which "already has many excellent third-party providers," Kett said.

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