Bill's Blog

What next - a $3.00 Bill?

Finally we have an uproar in our industry caused by someone other than the off premise retail ATM market.  Last week, when a leading “big bank” announced the $3.00 surcharge, you would have thought they were holding a gun to the head of the public.  Such an outcry. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the “big bank” for setting the standard for all of the other banks and helping us out by raising the bar.  Hey off premise – maybe you aren’t so bad after all. 

As an ISO, how do you take advantage? Raise your surcharge and point at “them”, or advertise a lower surcharge and try to increase your transaction volume.  We are in a transaction business and anything that the off premise industry can do to help the revenue stream is greatly appreciated. 

Thanks to compliance issues and eroding margins, the retail off premise side of the ATM industry has struggled in 2007.  I hope the surcharge increase on the “big bank” side is a positive factor for the off premise ATM industry in 2008. If nothing else, it’s great to see “big bank” ATMs on Dateline and 60 Minutes instead of the “lowly” off premise machines normally making the headlines. 

Compliance: Nightmare or Necessity?

As the end of another year approaches, we find that most machines have been upgraded to meet the 3DES compliance standard. It’s interesting to me that people are taking the handling of DES keys so lightly, especially on the manufacturing level. If you’re an ISO or ESO and you’re not following proper procedures in handling the master key injection, you’re putting the entire industry in jeopardy of yet another compliance upgrade.  Imagine what would happen if someone managed to get into the unit through the master keys and create a fraud situation.  I think the industry is very fragile right now and anything that creates bad press, undue trauma, or additional expense, would be devastating to the Retail ATM industry

Tranax has measures in place to ensure keys are loaded at the factory in compliance with the industry standard, which allowed Tranax to pass its VISA audit with flying colors. Make sure your “key loader” is handling your future with the respect it deserves. Avoid a possible 4DES upgrade or additional security measures created by sloppy handling of the “keys to the kingdom”.