News

Manufacturer hopes market will go for the Glory

Glory U.S.A., a North American subsidiary of Japanese financial equipment manufacturer Glory Ltd., wants to push U.S. sales of its PZ cash dispenser in 2002.

January 3, 2002

Even though industry pundits are increasingly using the "s" word (saturated) to describe North America's retail ATM market, Glory U.S.A. has decided the time is right for a major push of its PZ model cash dispenser here.

"The numbers seem to be right. We think the market is still expanding and growing at the low end," said Rick Friese, Glory U.S.A.'s vice-president of sales.

Friese's assessment is largely based upon the product's first year in the U.S. ATM market, during which Access Cash had an exclusive contract to sell the machine. Arden Hills, Minn.-based Access Cash sold the terminals branded under the name iACT.

Now that the contract's exclusivity clause has expired, Friese said that Glory U.S.A. intends to recruit another three dozen or so distributors, primarily in the U.S. and Canada. The company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japanese financial equipment manufacturer Glory Ltd., hopes to sell at least 3,000 machines this year.

"(Access Cash) did well last year. We hope to duplicate their effort all across the U.S.," Friese said.

Glory U.S.A. doesn't have to look far to find an example of a foreign manufacturer wracking up some pretty impressive U.S. sales numbers with a low-end ATM. Tranax Technologies (formerly Cross Technologies), a business partner of South Korea's Hyosung Computer, sold just 650 units in 1998, its first year in the U.S. market. In 1999, that number grew to some 6,000 units, more than half of them the MiniBank 1000, a low-end cash dispenser that Tranax introduced that year.

Noting that Tranax and other manufacturers such as Triton and NCR have gone on to produce even smaller and less expensive cash dispensers, Friese said that much of the retail market's growth seems to be occurring at the low end.

Glory displayed its wares at last month's BAI Retail Delivery Show in Anaheim, Calif. The PZ cash dispensers shared booth space with the automated coin and currency handling systems for which Glory is better known.

The PZ line has four models: the PZ1, a front-loading, single-cassette unit; the PZ1R, a rear-loading, single-cassette unit; and the PZ2 and PZ2R, two-cassette units with front-load and rear-load options, respectively.

Mike Shackelford, Access Cash's national indirect sales manager, said the iACT sold well last year, although he declined to provide specific numbers. The primary market for the machine, he said, is "mom and pops" or individual merchants rather than large corporate accounts. "You wouldn't hear about Kmart or Target buying an iACT," he said.

The unit has performed well in the field, Shackelford said. "It seems to really be a workhorse."

Noting that profit margins for ISOs are notoriously narrow, Friese said, "They expend a lot of time, energy and effort on their business. They don't want to give it all up at the service end."

The machine's small size -- 8 inches wide, 23 ½ inches deep and 27 ½ inches tall – makes it possible to install it in locations such as bingo parlors that otherwise likely couldn't spare the space for an ATM,Shackelford said.

The machine's narrow width is due to a piece of "unique technology," Friese said, a Glory dispenser that presents bills vertically rather than horizontally.

Shackelford said the Glory unit is in the same price range as Triton's Mako Low, which he tapped as probably its chief competitor. According to Friese, its wholesale price is in the $3,000 range.

Friese said the combination of its low price point, small footprint and reliability may make the PZ unit a winner. He also mentioned the parent company's reputation for producing quality currency sorting and dispensing products.

"(Glory Ltd.) is a market leader with their self-service equipment in the Far East," he said. "From desktop currency counters and sorters to merchant depositories, I'd say they have at least 100,000 units implemented. They use the same architecture across their product line."

Glory Ltd. established Glory U.S.A. in 1982. Headquartered in West Caldwell, N.J., the company has six regional offices.

Glory U.S.A. has about a dozen distributors who handle the company's better-known line of automated coin and currency handling systems. While most sell to financial institutions, Friese said a few of them also have relationships with retailers, who will be the primary market for the PZ cash dispenser.