Bill's Blog

Happy Driving...

In 1998 I bought an SUV for my wife – from the first day that she drove the SUV she had problems with it – and it spent time in the shop… small stuff – nothing major – but the minor inconvenience turned into major pain – to the point that I sold the SUV and got a different model.  If you have had an experience with a Tranax machine that is like my SUV experience we would like to hear about it – All of us at Tranax would like to see if we can get that old “SUV” fixed – and then maybe you will think of Tranax when it is time to get the next ATM ride .…..

Happy Driving.

SSL is here, but what is it?

I have to admit, when I first heard about SSL, I didn’t know what anyone was talking about.  SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer.  Again….that didn’t help me, after hearing that, I was thinking it was something you get from the dentist after getting your wisdom teeth pulled, but not so much.

SSL, is a layer of security that allows your ATM to transmit a financial transaction securely over the internet.  Now, as we move into the internet age, folks are realizing that by using a high speed internet connection, they can increase their speed on an ATM transaction and decrease their communication cost.   As we began the journey of running an ATM over the internet, we had to figure out how to keep that transaction secure.  If anyone had tried to add an ATM say in 2003 using TCP/IP, they were met with a whole host of issues from their processor. As processors caught up, it might have been easier, but it still required an additional hardware to pay for and to configure and maintain.

NOT ANYMORE!!!

Tranax is happy to announce that it is coming out with software based SSL that can be added our Win/CE based c4000 ATMs. So if you have our Win/XP based x4000 (comes standard with SSL built-in) or c4000, you will no longer need the additional hardware. Just make sure to select SSL option when ordering your ATM. 

Just another way that Tranax is stepping up to the future of the industry, making your life easier, and making your business more efficient.  Also known, as the Tranax Difference.

My Trip to ATMIA East 2008

This year, ATMIA East was one of the best shows that I have ever attended.  If you were there you know what I mean. If you missed it you really missed a great show with a lot of buzz and excitement.

We at Tranax are proud to support ATMIA and would like to take this opportunity to thank them for all of the effort required on their part to make this a successful conference.  ATMIA East was a reflection of the health of the industry and the enthusiasm of the entire membership

The Penguins have jumped in….and they like the water

I have always likened the ATM distributors to a bunch of penguins, and not because they are snazzy dressers.  When it comes to new products, many of them sit on the edge and wait to see who will jump in first and see if they get eaten by the polar bear.  Then when they feel it is completely safe you will have some that will adopt, and eventually it’s off and running.  Well, here at Tranax we would like to thank the penguins that were early adopters and tell the rest that the polar bears have gone home.

We are done with beta on check cashing.  We are done with beta on gift cards.  We are done with beta on bill pay.  We have success stories on all of them, and now are looking for the next batch of swimmers. 

In check cashing, we have partnered with Valid Systems, and have machine up and running their solution.  In one case the store owner is cashing over 500 checks a month using Valid and a c4000.  In Gift Cards, we have partnered with CDS, and we have machines in malls in Texas that are picking up steam, dispensing cards and making some money.  In bill pay, we have partnered with TIO, and have many kiosks and Hybrid ATMs that are in major c-store chains all over the country.

We have done it, it’s not vapor ware, it’s not a dream, it’s a reality.  Now jump in the water, and splash around, because the swimming is profitable.

PCI is there to stay

Well as I was sitting here on New Years morning looking around at the Christmas gifts and thinking about the new year, one of the things that has been on my mind is the PCI certification issue – it snuck up on some of us like Christmas. Speaking of Christmas and some of the off gifts that turn up, did you ever see the picture of the 4 dogs sitting at the table playing poker?  That is what PCI reminds me of. All of the major networks sitting around a table with a fist full of cards ready to ante up our money into the pot – a pot that no one wins. It just gets bigger and bigger.

Did PCI sneak up on you?  Well, don’t feel alone.  There are actually manufacturers out there that according to the Visa website have let PCI certification sneak up on them (I guess they were too busy hanging that singing fish that uncle Farley gave them). Check your manufacturer. Make them be in compliance. 

By the way, Tranax is approved through September 2008 in case you are checking.

3DES Upgrade mandate by December 31, 2007 or not?

As the year starts drawing to a close, I wonder about those machines that were never upgraded to 3DES? They’re still lurking out there somewhere waiting for the axe to fall.  But, will the axe really fall?  Will they really have the guts to shut these machines off?  The last drop dead date has been mandated to December 31, 2007, will all these machines be upgraded to 3DES by then?

This reminds me of the Y2K scare, but this time I think it has more impact – more impact because the large number of machines out there that are not upgraded. How many machines are affected? My guess is that about 5,000 are still running without 3DES, and not to mention the thousands that are not currently using the Visa lab certified EPP.  This reminds me of my boyhood hero Don Meredith, who would sing this tune on Monday night’s football games, “turn out the lights – the party is over” … or is it?

Déjà vu…All Over Again.

Ahhh…Remember 1992. 

In 1992, the payphone business was doing a lot of people very well.  The internet hadn’t even made its way into mainstream America.  A payphone distributor was living high on the hog.  Put a machine in, split the revenue and all is well.  The only thing you had to sell was a few square feet, putting in a phone line, and split revenue with the location.

Then…..Remember 1994

In 1994, cell phones started to take off.  Instead of looking like a unit needed to call in troops to the front line, the designs became sleeker, smaller, and more attractive.  The payphone business had peaked and the decline was beginning.  Some people in the payphone business were smart enough to see this and realize they needed to do something.  Many of them looked to the ATM.  What the ATM did was leverage the relationship with the location, took advantage of the phone line that was already there, and it provided an income stream that they were familiar with.  The ATM, however, took more work.  There was the loading of cash, the programming of the machine, increased reporting, and definitely more work for the money.  Distributors that jumped on this are doing well today. Those that did business as usual, that didn’t look outside the box, went down like the Titanic.

We are sitting on the next 1994.  We can see transaction counts flattening out.  We can see interchange being reduced.  We can see the writing on the wall.  At Tranax we saw it long ago and aren’t waiting around to see our distributors sink. We aren’t just throwing them life supports either….Tranax is building a bigger and better platform for our distributors to continue to grow and flourish.

If you haven’t learned about CHECK CASHING, GIFT CARDS, BILL PAY, or other self service products, then you need to.  We have partnerships with industry leaders that will separate you from your competition, give you new lines of revenue, and continue to take you into the next century.

If you haven’t looked into it, you need to, before it’s too late. 

Now is the time to take advantage of the blue water that is self service.

What next - a $3.00 Bill?

Finally we have an uproar in our industry caused by someone other than the off premise retail ATM market.  Last week, when a leading “big bank” announced the $3.00 surcharge, you would have thought they were holding a gun to the head of the public.  Such an outcry. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the “big bank” for setting the standard for all of the other banks and helping us out by raising the bar.  Hey off premise – maybe you aren’t so bad after all. 

As an ISO, how do you take advantage? Raise your surcharge and point at “them”, or advertise a lower surcharge and try to increase your transaction volume.  We are in a transaction business and anything that the off premise industry can do to help the revenue stream is greatly appreciated. 

Thanks to compliance issues and eroding margins, the retail off premise side of the ATM industry has struggled in 2007.  I hope the surcharge increase on the “big bank” side is a positive factor for the off premise ATM industry in 2008. If nothing else, it’s great to see “big bank” ATMs on Dateline and 60 Minutes instead of the “lowly” off premise machines normally making the headlines. 

Compliance: Nightmare or Necessity?

As the end of another year approaches, we find that most machines have been upgraded to meet the 3DES compliance standard. It’s interesting to me that people are taking the handling of DES keys so lightly, especially on the manufacturing level. If you’re an ISO or ESO and you’re not following proper procedures in handling the master key injection, you’re putting the entire industry in jeopardy of yet another compliance upgrade.  Imagine what would happen if someone managed to get into the unit through the master keys and create a fraud situation.  I think the industry is very fragile right now and anything that creates bad press, undue trauma, or additional expense, would be devastating to the Retail ATM industry

Tranax has measures in place to ensure keys are loaded at the factory in compliance with the industry standard, which allowed Tranax to pass its VISA audit with flying colors. Make sure your “key loader” is handling your future with the respect it deserves. Avoid a possible 4DES upgrade or additional security measures created by sloppy handling of the “keys to the kingdom”.

Positioning for the future

I’m happy to report that Tranax is still standing strong.  We’ve made some adjustments recently to improve critical areas within the company, and I hope you’ve had the opportunity to take advantage of them. With more Tranax manufactured equipment in the field and new support policies to make them the best offering in the industry, we’re looking to the future with excitement

Summer has come and almost gone, and it seems the older I get the faster that happens. With fall quickly approaching, I’m sure that the ATM market will kick into gear and start moving at a very rapid pace in the magic 4^th quarter. Because of all of the pending opportunities and outlook in the industry, we at Tranax are very excited about the balance of 2007. Due to the fact that a lot of 3DES replacements impacted the new equipment business in 2006 – that should have gone away in 2007 – I predicted that this year would not be as robust as last, but there are still plenty of non-upgradeable machines to be put out to pasture.  Also, with fierce competition in the marketplace among the manufacturers, there’s been a “widening of the road”; making locations that were previously unable to justify an ATM, come into the picture as potential sites.

There’s a lot of focus on the erosion of pricing for ATM hardware, but the networks have their own battleground. With little fanfare, the interchange is shrinking. MasterCard, Visa, and probably Star, will follow soon.  I wonder how the reduction of the interchange is going to change the ISO model.

As always, this industry is entertaining to watch.

I hope you’re enjoying summer and taking advantage of all of the new opportunities that Tranax has to offer.

Bill