LONDON — ATM provider Cardpoint plc has expanded into Europe with its first live ATM in Germany.
According to a news release, Germany has 50,500 ATMs in bank locations and 5,500 in non-branch locations, which makes the German market larger than the UK market and at present relatively untapped by independent ATM deployers.
The German market is a non-surcharge market where interchange fees generally range from €3.50 to €5.50 (U.S. $4.30 to $6.80) payable to the ATM owner or operator by most banks.
Cardpoint operates nearly 2,100 cash machines in the UK. The company forecasts that it will have 30 ATMs deployed in Germany by the summer, with 75 by the end of 2004. The machines will feature the Cardpoint brand.
Cardpoint's German business is supported by three key partners including Wincor Nixdorf for ATMs and service provision, Transaction Network Services (TNS) for communications infrastructure and a German sponsor bank.
Mark Mills, Cardpoint's chief executive, said in the release, "Our operating model has allowed us to develop rapidly here in the UK over the last four years and we believe that this can be replicated successfully in the German marketplace where the margins are significant and once we have reached a certain scale, will generate higher future returns for our shareholders."
Andrew Martin, Cardpoint's Business Development director, said Germany was selected for expansion for "its relative infancy, enthusiastic retailers seeking to benefit from the provision of an ATM and high service levels afforded by our suppliers, some of whom we already use in the UK."
