The ATM Industry Association has replaced the phrase "ATM Independent Sales Organization" with IAD — Independent ATM Deployers.
The organization's members began experimenting with the new name a year ago, in part to differentiate themselves from card-services ISOs, said Haze Lancaster, chairman of the association's IAD committee and a partner in ATM USA LLC of Raleigh, N.C.
"ISO was too generic and could mean ATM ISO or credit card ISO, or both," Lancaster said.
"Also, whether deserved or not, the term ISO does not have the greatest brand when talking to financial institutions," he said.
Mike Lee, the association's chief executive, said, "IAD is a term first chosen by European and [U.K.] independents and is much more accurate a description than ISO."
The name change came last year as deployers were beginning to take a more active role in the association, Lancaster said. The group formed the IAD committee as the new term came into use and now has about 70 member companies, he said.
Despite some initial resistance among association members, Lancaster said he believes the new name will prevail. "Like anything else," he said, "it takes a while to sink in."
