MEMPHIS - The transaction processor Concord EFS Inc. has closed its purchase of Cash Station Inc., the seventh-largest electronic funds transfer network in the United States, the companies announced Tuesday.
Concord will add the Chicago-based network's 7,000 cash machines to its MAC system, the second-largest EFT network in the country. That will bring its total to 64,000 ATMs and 3,300 members, and Concord predicts that the combined network will manage about 200 million switch transactions a month.
The Cash Station network, which has a membership of 645 financial institutions, operates mainly in Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, and Wisconsin.
Concord president Edward A. Labry 3d said the acquisition will boost the MAC network's presence in the region. "Midwest merchants will benefit from a larger cardholder base driving growth in PIN-based debit card payments, which are cheaper and more secure than other payment alternatives," he said.
Concord said the conversion process will take place during 2001 and will include rebranding ATMs and point of sale sites. Concord will also appropriate services that are currently outsourced by Cash Station to Electronic Data Services Inc. of Plano, Tex., such as switch processing, ATM terminal driving, and card authorization services.
