Cardtronics Eyes Deposit-Taking ATMs and Surcharge-Free and Branding Deals for Growth

Thanks mainly to strong results in North America, leading non-bank ATM network owner Cardtronics plc saw fourth-quarter revenues rise, and in 2020 is seeking new growth from more partnerships with banks and fintechs and the deployment of deposit-taking ATMs.

Houston-based Cardtronics now has nearly 1,000 deposit-taking and cash-accepting ATMs in its Allpoint+ surcharge-free network, chief executive Edward H. West said Thursday while reviewing fourth-quarter results on a conference call with analysts. The company earlier this week announced a deal enabling Amazon.com customers to load cash into their Amazon accounts at about 400 of the Allpoint+ ATMs.

Cardtronics also continues to pursue its strategy of striking surcharge-free deals with banks as well as enabling financial institutions to put their brands on Cardtronics-owned ATMs. “We added new business and expanded with 15 of the top 30 banks in the U.S.,” West said, according to a SeekingAlpha.com call transcript, adding that Cardtronics now has branding and/or Allpoint relationships with eight of the 10 largest U.S. retail banks. He also said Cardtronics has Allpoint surcharge-free relationships “with almost 30 premier fintech businesses.”

The company owns or operates about 285,000 ATMs in 10 countries. Allpoint has 58,000 locations. Total fourth-quarter revenues rose 3% year-over-year to $338.8 million and were up 4% on a constant-currency basis. ATM operating revenues rose 3% as reported and on a constant-currency basis to $322.0 million.

West attributed most of the growth to North America, Cardtronics’ largest market. North American surcharge-free withdrawal transactions rose 7%, chief financial officer Gary Ferrera said, according to the transcript. Revenues from two other big Cardtronics markets, the United Kingdom and Australia, have suffered thanks to interchange cuts or financial-industry changes.

Cardtronics reported fourth-quarter net income of $12.6 million compared with a loss of $6.1 million a year earlier. For all of 2019, the company had net income of $48.3 million, versus $3.68 million in 2018, on revenues of $1.35 billion, up 0.3% as reported and 2.5% on a constant-currency basis.