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TRM Corp., one of the nation's largest ATM independent sales organizations, is in the process of changing its name to Access To Money, a company TRM purchased in April for $15 million (ADN, 4/24).
Industry observers agree TRM is making a smart move by changing its name because of the negative press TRM has received over the years and because the acronym "TRM" does not connect with consumers looking to withdraw money from an off-premise ATM.
"We're moving to Access To Money's Web site, and we are in the process of informing our customers of the name change," Richard Stern, Access To Money president and CEO, tells ATM&Debit News.
TRM also has moved most of its operations from Portland, Ore., to Whippany, N.J., where Access To Money is based, says Stern, who lives in Cherry Hill, N.J., a suburb of Philadelphia.
TRM is changing its name because it better reflects what the company does, Stern says.
"The name TRM has no relationship to what we do," he says. "Access To Money gives a much clearer indication of what we do."
Stern denies company officials are changing the name to wipe away the bad press TRM received because of years of financial problems, low-functioning ATMs that did not make much money because of their locations, and a low stock price that led the Nasdaq Global Market to delist the company in April.
"No, no, no, that had nothing to do with it. Access To Money is a better name, and it has more meaning as to what we do," he says.
Leon Majors, president of Payments Systems Practice at Salisbury, Md.-based Phoenix ESP Payments Research Group, agrees TRM is making the right move changing its name, but he believes it is occurring because of years of negative-financial publicity associated with the company.
"As a longtime observer of the ATM industry, it makes sense to me," Majors tells ATM&Debit News. "TRM has a lot of negative baggage. The financial problems TRM has had over the years affected its brand. I don't remember reading negative stories about Access To Money."
Augusto Medelius, a branding and marketing company owner, says dropping the acronym "TRM" also could benefit the company.
"Acronyms are tricky unless you are a big company with a big marketing budget to explain what you do. Otherwise, consumers will look at the name TRM and think it's a trucking company, " explains Medelius, managing partner of Lever Partners, which is based in White Plains, N.Y.
But he does not believe changing the name to Access To Money is that great either because it's too long.
The name Access To Money also can prove to be limiting if the company changes its strategy, Medelius says.
"If Access To Money installs ATMs that allow cardholders to make deposits or check balances, the name Access To Money will not convey this to consumers," he says. One industry official says Access To Money's name easily can be reduced to the acronym ATM.
After years of financial problems, TRM finally received a lifeline.
Last April, LC Capital Master Fund Ltd. loaned then-financially troubled TRM $11 million. TRM used some of the money to buy Access To Money and some to pay off at least $3.5 million in debt.
Under the new corporate structure, Access To Money is listed as a wholly owned subsidiary of TRM Corp. But it is unclear whether the name TRM, a well-known name in the ISO community, will last."We still have not made a decision whether to keep the name," he says.
TRM buried its name-change plans in a news release concerning Access To Cash reaching an agreement in principle with the Select-A-Branch ATM Network in King of Prussia, Pa., a Philadelphia suburb.
"The final agreement is close, but we still have not dotted all of the I's and crossed all of the T's," Stern says.
The agreement between the two companies plays on each other's strengths. TRM, which operates 12,200 ATMs nationwide, is the country's fourth-largest ATM ISO behind Cardtronics Inc., Payment Alliance International and Innovus Inc., ATM&Debit News survey data show.
On the other hand, Select-A-Branch offers an unusual ATM product, but the company only operates 175 ATM locations nationwide. When a cardholder who is member of a financial institution participating in Select-A-Branch's network inserts his debit card into a Select-A-Branch ATM, the name of the cardholder's bank or credit union appear on the ATM screen.
Once the companies sign a final agreement, Access To Money will deploy ATMs equipped with Select-A-Branch software if Access To Money's retail accounts agree to the change. And if they do, the ATM locations would have to meet Select-A-Branch's criteria of about 1,300 transactions per month, geographic location and brand recognition, Dan Stechow, the company's chief operating officer, tells ATM&Debit News.
The deal would help Select-A-Branch expand because the agreement means Select-A-Branch would grow by several thousand locations in the next few years, Stechow says. Access To Money must find new ATM locations and persuade existing TRM customers to agree to install Select-A-Branch ATM operating software, Stechow says.
While this is going on, Select-A-Branch must find financial institutions that want to use its network. Currently, more than 20 financial institutions are Select-A-Branch's ATM-network customers, Stechow says.
"Financial institutions think we have a great idea, but they tell us to contact them again when we are growing," he adds. "We needed a way to grow fast." ATM
