The deal, which will deliver St. George a $26 million (U.S. $20.1 million) book profit, boosts Customers' ATM numbers to close to 1,000, making the fledgling operator the third-biggest player behind the Bank of Queensland's ATM Solutions arm (2,000 terminals) and Cashcard (5,600).
Private-label ATMs have driven the strong growth in overall ATM numbers to 21,550 in June 2004, compared with 20,398 a year earlier and only 11,819 in June 2000.
The potential was not lost on First Data Corp., which last December bought Cashcard from its bank and building society owners for more than $200 million (U.S. $155 million).
Non-bank operators are expected to benefit from the Reserve Bank of Australia's intention to introduce direct charging, in which the ATM operator sets the ATM fee.
Read related stories from our archives:
Aussie bank sells ATMs to independent operator,
First Data's proposed acquisition of Cashcard gets regulatory go-ahead
Aussies pay $500M a year in ATM fees
