HOUSTON -
It is the first co-branding deal by a credit union with Cardtronics, the world's largest operator of ATMs, with operational control over 28,500 cash machines in the U.S., but won't be the last, according to company officials. "We've got a couple more credit unions we're going to announce, but we're not quite ready yet," said Joel Antonini, a Cardtronics spokesman.
Cardtronics, which also operates as many as 3,000 ATMs in Mexico and the U.K., has been striking co-branding deals with several major banks over the past few years, including JP Morgan Chase, Wachovia and Sovereign Bank, which offers the banks' customers surcharge-free access to Cardtronics machines in selected retail locations.
The SECU deal will co-brand Cardtronics ATMs in Walgreens stores in Leon County, home of the $250-million SECU. Each of the nine machines will be equipped with the SECU logo and SECU transaction screens.
The deal comes one week after Cardtronics announced it is taking over operation of 5,500 ATMs in 7-Eleven convenience stores, a major contact point for the credit union-owned CO-OP Network and Financial Services Centers Cooperative shared branching network. The $135-million deal is scheduled to close later this month.
It also positions Cardtronics as a competitor in some markets with the CO-OP, such as Tallahassee, where Cardtronics also has a deal with the Credit Union 24 network for surcharge-free access for its credit union members. Antonini said the soon-to-be announced co-branding deals involves credit unions outside the Tallahassee market.
Over the past two years, Cardtronics has not only established itself as the dominant independent operator of ATMs, but a critical electronic funds transfer services for credit unions. During that time, the company signed deals with the Credit Union 24 to provide access to its credit unions, and also acquired the surcharge-free Allpoint network, which provides access to hundreds of credit unions.
"SECU has worked with Cardtronics subsidiary Allpoint for some time to provide our members with surcharge-free cash access across 32,000 ATMs in the Allpoint network," said Paul Callen, a spokesman for the Florida credit union. "Extending our relationship with Cardtronics by placing our brand on ATMs in Tallahassee-area Wallgreens stores was a logical way to better serve our members and build awareness of our brand."
The 7-Eleven deal will give it direct access to The CO-OP Network. And next month, 7-Eleven will connect almost 2,000 of its ATMs, all Vcom self-service kiosks, to FSCC.
Cardtronics also operates ATMs in such major retail locations as A&P and Albertsons supermarkets, Hess, BP, Amoco, Chevron, ExxonMobil and Sunoco gas station/convenience stores, CVS, Duane Reed and Rite Aid pharmacies, and Target, Costco and Walgreens department stores.
