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Off to the races

Sure, there was some great technology at the ATM Industry Association conference in Florida. But more importantly, how did Tidel COO Mike Hudson get the nickname "Pony Boy?"

January 29, 2002

As always when the ATM industry gets together, there was plenty of food for thought at "The New World of ATMs," the ATM Industry Association's (ATMIA) recent conference in Clearwater, Fla.

Here are some of the best morsels, culled from speakers' presentations, the exhibit hall and the hotel bar:

Horse sense: Mike Hudson, Tidel's executive vice president and chief operating officer, is known to colleagues as "Pony Boy" because of his sunny outlook on the ATM industry. Hudson shared a tale about an optimistic boy whose father wants to teach him a lesson about life at Christmas. After watching his brother unwrap a huge stack of toys, the boy is taken to a room filled with a pile of manure. He dives into the pile and begins digging. When his father asks what he's doing, he says, "I just know there's a pony in here somewhere!"

During Hudson's presentation, he used stats from the 2000 Census to make the case that there are as many as 350,000 new nonbank locations for ATMs out there. That number of sites, combined with the increasing consolidation of both ISOs and ATM networks, will lead to strong growth over the next 10 years, he predicted.

The old mare ain't what she used to be: Keynote speaker Bipin Shah, president and CEO of Genpass Technologies LLC, pointed out that ATM transaction volume has flattened since 1996 while POS/debit volume has increased at a healthy clip. Looking ahead to the next 10 years, he believes future growth will be in POS, as well as in new channels like the Internet and person-to-person payment.

The surcharge will depress, he said, and "the money will be in interchange over the long haul." Consolidation among ATM deployers will leave only three or four after the dust has cleared, he said.

Back in the saddle: Noting that conferences present a good opportunity to meet with potential distributors, Hudson said, "I'd like to know who the three of you are who will be surviving so that I can talk to you specifically."

The ISO formerly known as: The ATM in the hotel lobby was branded CCS Express.

Ouch!: At that same ATM, the surcharge was a hefty $2.65.

Calling Sen. D'Amato: The Hilton Hhonors program detailed in a brochure urged guests to "double dip" by earning both frequent flyer miles and hotel points.

Working without a net: One industry pundit thinks a logical way to make ATM advertising work is to drop the surcharge. Without a surcharge, transaction volume will increase and the ATM owner can attract advertisers with more impressions.

Big deal: A lucky ISO just got a major national contract for a discount department store chain. They'll deploy the hardware of a foreign manufacturer that has been trying for some time to crack the U.S. market.

Big time: An ISO-friendly third-party processor may be about to go public.

No free rent: Communiteq Systems Inc. demonstrated an ATM/kiosk application that allows apartment dwellers to pay their rent and property management to keep tabs on renters' accounts. It's being used at some large complexes in Canada.

Touching technology: The snazzy full-motion video topper produced by International Merchant Services has two features that may finally break open the market for ATM advertising: interactivity and trackability. When consumers select a product or service by touching the 15-inch color touch screen, they'll receive a coupon. And the software program can generate just about any kind of data an advertiser might want, such as which time of day yields the best customer response.

IMS is installing 25 of the toppers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, with plans to roll out up to 2,000 by the end of the year. Several (wait for it) paying advertisers have already signed on.

Should have taken a left at Albuquerque: Mel Walters, NCR's ATM Mobility Program director, suggested that providing the ability to download and print maps, a la Mapquest, would be a great application for ATMs.

Do it yourself: Because so many leasing companies are getting out of the ATM business, at least two third-party processors are establishing their own in-house leasing programs.

Vroom room: The exhibit hall was actually a quiet corner of the hotel's parking garage, with heavy canvas for "walls." Perhaps the most appropriate marketing gimmick was the display table cleverly disguised as a car in De La Rue's booth.

High anxiety: Attracting high-profile clients like American Express and E*TRADE Access must leave no time to relax, judging by the giveaways at the Mosaic Software booth: stress balls and stress noodles.

Have conference, will travel: The ATMIA will host its first European conference in London in September and has plans for a similar event in Asia next year.

Personal pet peeve: Without coffee, it's not a "coffee break." Soft drinks and lemonade were the only beverages served during an afternoon lull in presentations.

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