News
Triton looks ahead at 2003 Distributor Conference
Attendees saw two new ATMs, the RL5000 and FT5000, at Triton's Distributor Conference in Biloxi, Miss., earlier this week. They also got an earful about new software applications, Triple DES, TCP/IP and more.
April 10, 2003
A number of those at the sixth annual Triton Distributor Conference had trouble getting to Biloxi, Miss., site of the event, due to snow in some parts of the country and thunderstorms in others.
I touched down a mere 10 hours after my scheduled arrival time, the last leg of the journey spent on a turboprop plane where the bumpy ride made a number of other passengers sick. I felt fortunate, however, after hearing about the travel travails of some others, who were stranded in distant airports overnight and rose before dawn to make it to Biloxi.
A record 179 distributors, business partners and other guests were there to see Triton's two new products, the RL5000 and FT5000, and hear about the manufacturer's strategies for growth.
As usual, the event was a networking opportunity extraordinaire and loads of fun to boot. Here are some of the highlights:
Dive right in: Triton recently went live with its first Waves application, check cashing, with partner CashWorks. Anita Nobles Arguelles, Triton's manager of marketing and product management, said that four ATMs have tallied 200 CashWorks transactions in the past month.
Core Data Resources is processing those transactions. Triton expects Waves to be certified by Genpass Technologies in the second quarter and by Lynk Systems in the third quarter. Waves is currently available on Triton's 9100 and on single-cassette configurations of the 9600 and 9700.
"This is Wave number one," said Ernest Burdette, the company's president emeritus. "As with all Waves, there will be more." Indeed, Triton's commitment to the program is evidenced by its appointment of Paul Parrie, new senior product manager for Waves.
 |
A guy taking snaps of the inside of the new RL5000 ATM. A service tech, or maybe a competitor? |
Waves of dollars: Arguelles broke down profit numbers for the first three Waves applications. With check cashing, offered through CashWorks, ISOs collect 1 percent of a check's face value, which they can split with merchants. The average face value of a check, according to Arguelles, is $250. With phone top-ups, offered through Euronet, ISOs receive an average of 13 percent of the top-up. With money transfer, offered through Western Union, "the service fee is approximately equal to a cash withdrawal," Arguelles said.
Money where its mouth is: Triton demonstrated Waves by giving away $20 CashWorks checks, prepaid phones with $20 of top-up time and $20 Western Union money transfers - 20 of each.
And the winners are: Distributors who earned admittance to the Admiral's Club, with a membership based upon sales increases, were: ATM Express, ATM Solutions South Africa, ATM Solutions Australasia, eFunds, E*Trade Access, FTI and Hanco ATM Systems.
Beginning next year, all distributors who sell more than 1,000 units will automatically earn admission to the club. Each year, Admiral's Club members and top Triton management travel to an exotic locale -- Aruba in 2003 -- for fun and a little work. "There is some work involved, especially if the IRS is listening," said Burdette.
Yes, this is Mississippi: A pile of tasty crawfish was on the buffet table.
Got a scorecard?: A number of folks who had changed jobs since the last round of ISO acquisitions were in attendance. Alfie Pena, former national sales director for Cash Resources, is the new indirect sales manager for Access Cash/eFunds. Todd Hannon, who left eFunds last month, is moving to the UK to help out with the family business, Hanco ATM Systems. Noah Weider, who headed up sales and marketing for XtraCash, says he's lining up some independent consulting gigs.
Few good VARs: Triton expects to recruit Value Added Resellers, or VARs, to sell the FT5000, a new through-the-wall unit it hopes will appeal to financial institutions. Doug Sholes, Triton's manager of financial institution sales, said Triton expects to have about one VAR for every six or seven ISOs in its sales channel. Selling to banks isn't for everyone, he said. "It's a longer sales cycle, with more decision makers involved and different economics fueling it."
Target market: Sholes said the target market for the FT5000 is credit unions and community banks. There are 19,000 of those types of institutions in the U.S., with fewer than 20,000 ATMs between them. Many smaller financial institutions have found it difficult to cost justify ATM ownership, Sholes said. The FT5000 will cost about a third less than traditional through-the-wall ATMs. (See related story Triton refines the product rollout)
It's a manufacturer's prerogative�: To change its mind, at least where Triple DES upgrades are concerned. Although Triton had previously announced it had no plans to support a Triple DES upgrade for its first ATM, the 9500, it now expects to introduce an upgrade kit by October. (Perhaps influenced by the decisions of two other manufacturers, GTI and WRG Services, to come out with kits of their own.)
Bill Jackson, Triton's chief technical officer, said the upgrade will combine the cabinet, power supply and dispenser from the 9500 with the same electronics, software, printer and card reader used in the 9700 and a new control panel. Little if any re-certification will be required, he said. After the upgrade, which should take about two hours, the machine will be capable of running Waves applications and will be supported by Triton.
Thinking ahead: Jackson estimates that there are about 45,000 Makos and 9600s in the field that will require an upgrade to run Triple DES before MasterCard's April 2005 deadline. Noting that Triton has upgrade kits available for both, he said that distributors should not delay. "How fast are your techs?" he said.
 |
Members of the 2003 Admiral's' Club accept their awards. |
Protecting the PINs: Triton's Encryption PIN Pad (EPP) features a module where encryption occurs, encased in epoxy, directly behind the ATM's keypad. Though the EPP can be moved without disturbing the master keys stored inside the module, the keys are destroyed if anyone tampers with the module itself.
Because it's common for retail deployers to use more than one transaction processor, Triton's EPP supports up to four sets of master keys. Like other manufacturers, Jackson said Triton is moving toward a "super EPP" that will support remote key management.
Moving toward TCP/IP: Triton now has a box that plugs into the serial port of its 9700 to create an Ethernet connection. This means the 9700 will be able to support TCP/IP, a form of telecommunications that is gaining popularity among both financial institutions and large retail chains. A beta test of this device is currently underway with eFunds, Jackson said. Triton expects to have 600 to 700 of its 9700s on TCP/IP by the end of the third quarter. Both of Triton's new ATMs, the RL5000 and FT5000, have built-in Ethernet connections.
Dispenser dues: Three years of development took place before Triton introduced its TDM100 cash dispenser in December of 2001. "Once you put your own name on it, you can't blame anybody else if it doesn't work," Jackson explained. The effort seems to have paid off; Triton has shipped more than 9,000 of the TDM100 in its first year-and-a-half.
Strangest career change: Charlie Cimino, sales manager of ATM Merchant Systems, until recently was in the funeral business. Cimino said it's not as odd as it seems; the basic principles of good salesmanship work well in any industry.
Included In This Story
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
