STRATEGIC PARTNERS
January 29, 2002
LONDON -- LINK, the UK's national ATM network, had a record-breaking year in 2000, processing 972 million transactions.
According to a LINK release, the network is on target for a new record this year. LINK expects to top 100 million transactions a month by mid-2001, an increase of 28 percent over the same period last year. Overall, LINK expects to process 1.25 billion transactions over the next 12 months.
LINK says that December 2000 was its busiest month, accounting for over 10 percent of total transactions for the year. The busiest day was Dec. 22, the last working day before Christmas, with nearly 5 million transactions.
According to LINK, one factor in the increased transaction volume is the growth of ATMs in nonbank locations. LINK has accepted 10 ISOs as members and expects that 11,000 new cash dispensers will be installed over the next two to three years.
It also expects increased transactions through the transfer of the few remaining interbank bilateral connections to the network.
Trevor Jenkins, general manager of Service Delivery, said, "We estimate that the average person used their LINK cash card 66 times last year. Cash machines are not only the favorite way of obtaining cash, they are also the most accessible."
The LINK network includes over 32,000 ATMs, 3,500 of which are operated by independents, and a card base of over 78 million.
