Dive Brief:
- Dallas-based Payment Alliance International, an ATM management company, said Friday it has acquired ATM services firm TouchPoint 21, according to a news release. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- The acquisition expands PAI’s service model, adding TouchPoint 21’s ATM and Interactive Teller Machine (ITM) terminals, plus its in-house servicing and armored staff, PAI CEO David Dove said in the release.
- PAI already handles transaction processing, bank sponsorships, terminal maintenance, cash-in-transit servicing and software services for more than 100,000 ATMs in the U.S., according to the release.
Dive Insight:
The acquisition comes as more financial institutions look to outsource their ATM operations.
Just as local bank branches are closing, ATMs are disappearing amid reduced demand for cash. That’s prompted a rise in ATM unit servicing costs, leading banks to outsource the servicing of the machines to "specialized cash-in-transit players," an October report from consulting firm McKinsey said.
Staffing issues, too, might have banks looking to outsource ATM management.
PAI and TouchPoint 21 tout outsourcing as a way for banks and credit unions to improve operating efficiencies, and to incorporate newer technologies like ITMs. Dove said TouchPoint 21 is focused on "simplifying and improving ATM operations for its customers."
"Joining with PAI unlocks an expanded value set for our customers and also enables us to deliver these benefits to a much wider customer base," said TouchPoint 21 CEO Brett Koedam in the news release.
PAI itself was acquired last April by Brink’s for $213 million. Brink’s said at the time that PAI’s proprietary technology better positioned the security company to offer U.S. customers a host of ATM services, including full-service outsourcing, per a press release regarding the transaction. At that time, PAI employed 225 people.
A spokesperson said PAI plans to retain all employees of TouchPoint 21, which has primarily operated in Texas and Oklahoma. The spokesperson declined to specify the number of employees currently at PAI and TouchPoint 21; Brink's has about 75,000 employees around the world.
Smaller banks and credit unions are more likely than larger financial institutions to outsource more of their ATM services, a 2021 report from Cardtronics noted.
The number of ATMs in the U.S. is likely to have peaked in 2019 when 470,000 units could be found nationwide, according to a report from research firm Euromonitor International. In 2020, that number dropped to 462,000, and the firm estimated it fell further last year to an estimated 456,000, Euromonitor said.