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Cardtronics Inc. does not compete with other ATM independent sales organizations,
contends CEO Jack Antonini. Instead, he views the nation's largest banks
as his rivals.
"We rarely see them," Antonini said of other ATM ISOs last month during at the
fifth annual Emerging Growth Conference in Boston. As he spoke, Cardtronics executives distributed materials showing the ISO owns more ATMs than any of the nation's other ISOs or largest banks. Its 28,700 ATMS far surpass the ATM count of Charlotte, N.C.- based Bank of America Corp., which ranks first among bank–ATM fleets with 18,584 machines.
Cardtronics bases its figures on the numbers in the 2008 ATM&Debit News
EFT Data Book and other industry reports. Unlike BofA, Cardtronics operates internationally, J. Christopher Brewster, Cardtronics chief financial officer, told
attendees. "We only compete with Bank of America in its 28-state footprint," Brewster said. "We deploy ATMs in all 50 states," while reaching into Mexico and the United Kingdom.
Cardtronics listed itself as the nation's largest ATM owner, the company also
asserted that it owns more ATMs than the largest banks abroad. Tokyo-based Japan Post, which owned 26,103 ATMs at the end of June was the closest competitor.
Cardtronics said it owned 33,000 ATMs. Cardtronics based its totals on those provided by Retail Banking Research Ltd., the London-based strategic consulting firm.
While Cardtronics remained on top as the nation's and world's largest ATM ISO,
U.S.-based ISOs several rungs below Cardtronics were consolidating, and familiar
names were disappearing. In March, Payment Alliance International, the fifth-largest ATM ISO with 8,700 contracts under management, purchased Billings, Mont.-based ATM Express Inc., the third-largest ATM ISO with 16,686 ATMs under management,
according to the 2008 edition of the ATM&Debit News EFT Data Book.
The purchase meant Louisville, Ky.- based Payment Alliance controlled more
than 26,000 ATM-management contracts nationwide.
In April, Portland, Ore.-based TRM Corp., which owned or managed 10,473
ATMs at the end of 2007, purchased Access To Money, the nation's seventh-largest ATM ISO with 5,000 ATM contracts, for $15 million. Access To Money is based in Whippany, N.J. After announcing the deal, TRM said its ATM portfolio contains approximately 12,200 transacting ATMs.
