Two firms jostle to acquire struggling ATMC

Two firms jostle to acquire struggling ATMC
Ben Uzor Jr
Seeking to reposition the struggling Automated Teller Machine Consortium (ATMC), the country’s premier Independent ATM Deployer (IAD), two indigenous companies have expressed keen commercial interest with a view to acquiring it, Business Day can now reveal. The decision of the two companies, Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) and XL Cash Management Service Limited (XLCMS) to acquire ATMC may be connected with the recent Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) directive that banks should remove all their off-banking locations ATMs. It was further gathered that XLCMS decision was formed against the backdrop of its aspirations to enter the electronic payment (e-payment) touch-points end-to-end business. XLCMS is a professional Cash-In-Transit (CIT) management company established to offer integrated cash management services, covering cash processing and cash in transit services to Nigerian financial services industry. Meanwhile CWG, who already the largest ATM vendor in the West African sub-region, is strategically positioned through its subsidiary’s appointment as a Wincor partner in 2007. Business Day also learnt that the company intends to focus not only on sales but to use its wealth of experience garnered in the market to bring to bear on better after sales service to the customer. Furthermore, CWG’s sister company, Expert Edge Software also brings more value to Wincor customers by customising the Wincor software for better customer experience on their ATMs. In addition, the CBN directive to insist that ATMC was the body mandated solely to deploy the electronic payment system in public places, while the banks will continue to concentrate on installing same only within their premises. The mission of ATMC was to deploy and manage 1,200 offsite Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) under the trademark QuickCash. After initial breakthrough with over 100 ATM installations across the country, QuickCash has been struggling as its member banks compete with it for the off-banking locations ATM deployment. The Consortium members are the leading banks in Nigeria that collectively control over 60 percent of the Nigerian banking market in terms of capitalisation, asset and deposit base. These banks include: Afribank, Diamond Bank, Fidelity bank, First Bank, GTBank, Oceanic Bank, Union Bank, UBA, Wema Bank and Zenith Bank.