CO-OP FS Expands Its ATM Network With New Partnership With Costco

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - CO-OP Financial Services continued its expansion of its ATM network with an agreement announced last week with Costco, the warehouse retailer that has more than 300 stores nationally.

"The demographics are attractive and it's a very compatible relationship," said CEO Stan Hollen just after the CO-OP board approved the deal during CO-OP Financial Services' annual meeting at the Broadmoor Hotel here.

The agreement will provide surcharge-free access to the ATMs for members of CUs that are part of the CO-OP network. It was only the latest in a string of announcements over the past year for CO-OP, which has expanded its presence in payments, shared branching, EFT and other services. Hollen said all of its acquisitions and partnerships are designed to execute its larger strategy of aggregating more transactions and driving down its own costs and therefore costs to its credit union owners. "We are so small as an industry when compared to the BofA's, but by combining we have an extraordinarily strong delivery system," said Hollen.

The Costco agreement will likely be overshadowed by an announcement expected in the third or fourth quarter of this year from CO-OP Financial Services, according to Hollen, when it plans to move into credit card processing services. "We plan to be very price competitive," said Hollen.