[IMGCAP(1)]
Cardtronics Inc., which purchased 7-Eleven Inc.'s ATM network last year for $135
million, is deploying ATMs in 7-Eleven stores throughout Mexico, Jack Antonini, Cardtronics CEO, told analysts Thursday.
Cardtronics, the world's largest ATM ISO based on the 32,646 machines it owns and or manages, also has dispatched a team to China and Singapore to study the possibility of deploying ATMs at 7-Eleven stores in those countries, Antonini said during the 5th Annual Emerging Growth Conference in Boston.
"7-Eleven operates 34,000 stores around the world. This is a potential for growth we
have not taken advantage of," Antonini said. Houston-based Cardtronics considers
China and Mexico excellent locations for deployment growth because those countries have so few ATMs. China has 98 ATMs per 1 million citizens, while Mexico has 271 ATMs for every 1 million residents, according to London-based Retail Banking Research Ltd.
In contrast, the United States has 1,345 ATMs for every 1 million residents.
Dallas-based 7-Eleven operates 1,432 stores in China, 871 in Mexico and 420 in
Singapore, a spokesperson says. Residents of China and Mexico tend to rely heavily on cash. Cardtronics Mexico, a subsidiary of Cardtronics Inc., operates 1,800 ATMs in the country. China, like other Asian countries, is a heavy cash-recycling market. At the beginning of each workday, business owners withdraw cash from ATMs to pay for transactions. At the end of the day, business owners deposit the cash into the ATMs. The machine counts the notes before making the money available to the next ATM customer.
Besides deploying ATMs in 7-Eleven stores, Houston-based Cardtronics has assembled a four-person team to study other locations worldwide where it can deploy ATMs, Antonini says.
Cardtronics wants to deploy ATMs in countries where consumers use a lot of cash,
ATMs are relatively scarce and transaction volume is growing, Antonini says.
