NetBank Will Acquire ATM Deployer FTI

NetBank Inc., which bills itself as the nation’s first commercially successful Internet bank, has agreed to acquire privately held Financial Technologies Inc., for cash and $1 million in restricted stock. Tommy Glenn, Jr., founder and president of FTI, says in a statement released today that the combination with NetBank will help his company “expand high-potential initiatives,” including merchant processing and prepaid services. In the same statement, Douglas K. Freeman, chairman and chief executive of Alpharetta, Ga.-based NetBank, points to the acquisition as being instrumental in his company’s efforts to diversify its revenues by quickly adding capabilities in transaction processing, particularly for small banks and merchants. With an installed base of 4,300 ATMs, Jackson, Miss.-based FTI is one of the largest third-party off-premise ATM deployers in the country. Its machines handle 1.5 million transactions a month. The 7-year-old company, which earned $727,000 last year on revenues of $25.9 million, also sells equipment and services supporting a range of other transaction channels, including electronic check conversion, prepaid debit, prepaid cellular, and gift/loyalty cards. It will operate as a subsidiary of NetBank pending regulatory approval of the deal, which is expected to close by the end of the year. Its management, including Glenn, will continue to run the company, which will remained based in Jackson. _x000D_