Resources

Processors

When talking about the processors in the retail ATM space, we can help you work with the one that suits you best.

Columbus Data Services (CDS)

I like the CDS folks. They respond to the changing ATM landscape with ways to help you manage your business the way you need to manage it. Processing more than 135,000 terminals, CDS knows that you need more ways to pay out surcharge and interchange than ever before. If you want to charge a flat monthly fee instead of a surcharge per transaction, different fees by transaction tiers, cassette balances by denomination, instant reversals under certain conditions, and more, then you need CDS. They understand that traveling to an ATM to pull a journal is expensive and time-consuming so they offer some instant reversal and online journal functionality. Expand your business by working with CDS on financial institution terminals you brand for your local bank and its branches.

Elan Financial Services

Processors share many of the same characteristics — processing functionality, customer service and supportive relationships, and web monitoring tools. Where Elan differs is significant.

Being a part of US Bank, Elan leverages the bank’s cash and offers a robust cash-management program. Their program eliminates the need for one or more additional parties necessary for vaulting services and allows for greater efficiencies and cost savings. Another US Bank company, MoneyPass, can increase repeat traffic to appropriate locations by offering a surcharge-free program. For those banks who have outsourced their ATM operation, no one processes FI terminals better than Elan. And let’s not forget that interchange revenue continues to be critical supporting ATM operations. With Elan, their direct network connections often yields the highest interchange.

Switch Commerce

Switch Commerce is the only remaining processor that remains in private hands. They relate well to the independent operator.

Having been a customer for nearly a decade, I am confident that Switch Commerce has a passion for and a commitment to the ATM industry. As a forward-thinking organization, they consult with their IADs and other valued parties in order to develop tools that assist us in managing our business. Their solid leadership and high expectations of their team are befitting an industry under rapid change from regulators, portfolio consolidation and competition.

What’s the secret to their success? Switch Commerce is a standout organization in the ATM industry. Listen to why I think they are worthy of consideration: TransNational ATM Customer Spotlight

ATM Manufacturers

Genmega

Given their tenure and knowledge in this industry, it’s no surprise that GenMega is considered a preeminent manufacturer. They care about the design, quality and functionality of the equipment. They focus on both the deployer and the cardholder as end-users to provide each with the features necessary to ensure a reliable and secure transaction. Not every location has the same requirements, and GenMega offers many styles and customization where it makes sense. I encourage you to try their Onyx-W for a space-saving solution on the wall or on a countertop. I promise you will be excited by their delivery timing and warranty.

Nautilus Hyosung America

Nautilus Hyosung has been breaking new ground worldwide since 1998. It is this longevity that gives them their advantage. The depth of knowledge translates to solid design, ease of use, innovation and exemplary customer service. Try their Halo II and see why this entry-level ATM is a workhorse. It consistently delivers up-time in high-volume environments.

Puloon USA

You might think Puloon is a new entrant in the retail ATM space. In reality, they were established more than 20 years ago in Korea and have earned a reputation for strong product development in banking automation, as well as mechanical cash dispensers. They announced an expansion overseas, and as a result, you may have seen one of their retail ATMs in our market recently.

Given today’s competitive landscape where pennies can make the difference, you may want to try a Puloon ATM. Their low-cost solution helps you place a fast, reliable ATM at a competitive price. This gives you chance to recover your investment and move into profit more quickly. Consider placing a SiriUS ATM in a tight, secure space, even it it’s a high-volume location, and especially if multiple denomination types are required.

Triton Systems

All things being equal, most people prefer to support U.S. workers, and Triton has done so for 40 years. Under one roof in stunning Long Beach, Mississippi, Triton assembles its units and manages quality control at every stage of the process.

They are so committed to the ATM industry that through ATM Gurus, they train technicians and offer parts and repair of their own equipment and their competitors! You might be interested in their VersaSafe for those cash-intensive retailers.

Triton welcomes visitors. Try a stopover from New Orleans! Be sure to meet Daryl Cornell, owner of Triton. (How many companies do you know where the owner is present and available to shake your hand?!) Mr. Cornell and his team author the informative (and, at times, irreverent) blog atmatom.com.

Purchasing Equipment

Equipment and parts are a tricky business.

Manufacturers urge you to purchase equipment from their top distributors, who tell you that you must process with them if you want to buy from them. This is NOT completely accurate. Push back — tell them you have processing and only want to purchase a terminal. Many will sell you a terminal without processing to maintain their volume discounts!

You may have long-standing relationships with equipment providers and prefer to be loyal to them. I do not blame you. However, we have found that ATMequipment.com is as easy to work with as any of the distributors. We recommend them for their strong customer service, the lion’s share of equipment purchases for optimal pricing, and one-stop shopping including the most recent software versions on their website. Ideally, you want to purchase from a neutral party — not another ISO with whom you may not want to share your location data — so check out their website at ATMequipment.com.

We would appreciate your letting us know when you make a purchase, including manufacturer’s make and model and distributor used. We will aggregate this information in order to lend TransNational credibility with the manufacturers and distributors.

For those who are novices, we can assist with your selection and purchase. If you are interested in refurbished terminals, we caution you to work with reputable companies. Do not purchase off Craig’s List or eBay without being very certain the terminals are compliant for ADA, and you are aware of the EMV status.

And remember: ATMGurus.com can help with repair of any part from any manufacturer!

Revenue-Generating Products & Services on Your ATMs

JustCash

JustCash is a unique company. Both its products stand out. As consumers move away from their wallets in favor of their mobile devices, many of the larger FIs are upgrading their ATMs to dispense without a card. It’s becoming more important for ATM operators to begin implementing cardless options at their terminals. Providing consumers with the ability to perform cardless transactions helps promote individual locations as trendier and friendlier to tech-savvy consumers. To leverage your existing equipment, you should consider a non-NFC application such as JustCash.

Additionally, using the “existing rails” of your equipment for Bitcoin transactions, JustCash believes the retail ATM is a significantly underutilized asset. Their practical approach to leveraging the vast footprint of retail ATMs will generate brand-new streams of revenue with new customers, foot traffic and promotional opportunities.

KICTeam

While not actually revenue-generating, KICTeam will help protect your hard-earned revenue. Proactively avoid upcoming non-compliance and fallback penalties by reducing the incidence of fallback through regular maintenance. Studies from top manufacturers such as NCR and Nautilus Hyosung have shown a majority of card-reader malfunctions are due to dirt and grime buildup. Carlos Siewczynski, director of sales, KICTeam, says, “Regular cleaning is essential for proper function of ATM card readers.”

Other Equipment that Might Benefit Your Merchants

If you have a relationship with a merchant for an ATM, it gives you a “foot in the door” to sell them another product. You can use the pricing for one service to secure a more lucrative service on another. Extending your reach has usually been limited to cross-selling related merchant services, such as credit card processing, ATMs, even security cameras. Your offerings today might include:

Bill Pay Kiosks

Kiosks have had a few false starts in the payments industry. Yet the newest models are easier than ever to deploy in low-income, ethnically diverse, high-volume areas; large assembly plants with shift workers; auto dealerships or government municipalities that accept cash. Today’s units offer bi- and multi-lingual user interfaces; accept many forms of payments including cards, cash and change, even checks. What’s really neat is the provisional cash — the cash that is deposited in the kiosk is available in your bank account within 24 hours. If you are interested in these kiosks, be certain you learn about compliance, reporting, commission work, international money transfer responsibilities, bill pay aggregation, mobile phone “top ups,” and purchase of gift cards. The more sophisticated kiosks use face-to-face transactions via a camera — like some robust financial institution “ATMs.” Ask TransNational to introduce you to their favorite manufacturers.

Smart Safes

Safety of personnel and security of cash are critical in today’s environment. A smart safe is the answer. Cash handling, trips to the bank, internal theft from shrinkage are nearly eliminated with a smart safe. As with a bill-pay kiosk, funds placed in the smart safe are available as next-day credit in your account. Place a smart safe and gain recurring residuals. TransNational can analyze if a total cash solution is appropriate — vault cash supplied for ATMs and smart safes for cash deposits from the registers.

Cryptocurrency Terminals

We have spent a lot of time learning about Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, block-chain technology, regulations and licensing.

Here are a few of our favorite links to get you started:

Bitcoin is a cautionary tale, and the cryptocurrency landscape changes often, so be sure to do your research. You might check with us on our thoughts.

On-Site Installation & Maintenance

Burroughs

Given today’s competitive environment, you are probably “maxed out” managing your day-to-day operations and have little time for installations, maintenance and repairs. Yet these tasks are crucial to accomplish in order to continue earning revenue.

Oversight of a diverse portfolio of manufacturers’ makes and models as well as different cash automation equipment (including ATMs, smart safes, cash recyclers) makes it hard to find skilled, efficient labor — available when you need them — and with the parts necessary for optimal uptime. Contact Lee Barber to see if an arrangement with Burroughs is your solution.

BancSource

BancSource offers similar services to Burroughs. If service levels are not critical to you, this might be your preference in support partners.

Communications

The days of dial-up phone lines are long gone — no more telephone line drops, expensive monthly telephone bills or fighting for line time with POS devices. Try a network drop to save expenses if a drop already exists at the terminal or your merchant will install the drop for you at their expense. This option should save recurring fees. Unless you have a cooperative merchant willing to restart the terminal in times of trouble, you must be geographically convenient to the location in order to reboot it.

Wireless modems are an excellent solution also. And they are the prevailing one today, allowing for easy installation, control over reboots and lower recurring costs. Several of our favorite merchants are:

Hercules Wireless Modems by DPL

In their own words, the Hercules is “legendary.” Trust their hardware and return/warranty policy, the reliability of their redundant data centers. Use their portal or your RMS to manage the modem remotely. Customer service is available wherever you need them. The multi-layered encryption between their unit and your processor Is your protection against hacking. Pick from multiple cellular carrier options to cover the urban or rural area where you are located. Added to their strong product features are the optional Protector GPS (for an alert if terminal is tilted, door is opened or a change in long/lat is detected) and ATM Restart accessory (for remote reboots.) I love that you pay a fee for unlimited transactions and overages don’t count!

OptConnect

Choosing to install an OptConnect modem is an easy decision. Their customer service guides you through installation at any time of day. Because so many of you prefer to be self-reliant, OptConnect Portal allows you to interact with your devices as if you were standing in front of them — monitor signal strength and receive automatic notifications when something is not right — whether on a smart phone, a tablet or your computer. Fighting for signal strength at festivals can make or break an event’s success. Get priority connections in crowded cellular environments. Notify Use OptReboot to reboot a modem remotely. Simplicity and reliability … that’s OptConnect for you!

Worldwide Telecommunications (WTI)

WTI uses its buying power to provide you with a low-cost modem using AT&T or Verizon. Billing in 18/6 second increments and other features saves on connect time. Don’t let your line be “highjacked” for outbound calls to other countries!