HOUSTON -- Cardtronics Inc. has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Cardtronics USA Inc., has acquired LocatorSearch LLC, a leading provider of location search technology deployed by financial institutions to help customers and members find the nearest, most appropriate and convenient location based on the service they seek. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Cardtronics signed and closed this transaction on August 1.
The acquisition of LocatorSearch--founded in 2004 and based in New York --brings in-house a technology deployed by Cardtronics [image-nocss] and Allpoint Network since 2006 to power both their Web-based and smartphone app "ATM locators." Included in its LocatorSearch transaction, Cardtronics has acquired more than 400 contractual relationships with banks, credit unions and financial services channel partners, as well as LocatorSearch's proprietary location search technology, capable of delivering results across web, mobile web, smartphone app and automated customer service platforms.
The LocatorSearch-powered Allpoint Network app is available for free download in the Android Market, Apple App Store and BlackBerry App World.
"The acquisition of LocatorSearch accelerates Cardtronics' efforts to influence ATM user behavior before the transaction. By providing effective convenience marketing tools to our clients, we help consumers locate the closest cash machines when they need them most, and ultimately grow transaction volumes at Cardtronics and Allpoint Network ATMs," said Steve Rathgaber, CEO of Cardtronics. "While thousands of ATMs help make cash access handy in theory, it's the ability to easily locate the nearest cash machine on-demand that makes a financial institution-branded Cardtronics ATM or Allpoint Network surcharge-free ATM convenient in practice."
While Cardtronics' and Allpoint Network's area of expertise centers on ATMs, their application of LocatorSearch technology for financial institutions will not be limited to finding the nearest cash machine, it said. A common deployment of LocatorSearch services aggregates location information for brick-and-mortar branch locations, as well as all the surcharge-free ATMs (regardless of ownership or network) that a bank or credit union makes available to its customers and members.
Beyond branch locations, financial institution-owned ATMs and surcharge-free network cash machines, Cardtronics can also now aggregate all a financial institution's customer service touch-points, products and services into a single location-based search tool. Branch locations, credit union service centers, safe deposit boxes, deposit taking ATMs etc.--with LocatorSearch added to Cardtronics' solution suite, the company has advanced its capabilities around helping financial institutions connect with customers.
"Helping businesses lead their customers to the nearest location--that is the essence of LocatorSearch and something that the financial institutions and retailers that comprise Cardtronics' client base want to do," said Karl Kraus, president of LocatorSearch. "Cardtronics and Allpoint Network already operate the most convenient retail-located ATMs. Now that LocatorSearch is part of Cardtronics, we can work together to help financial institutions market that convenience to their customers and members, as well as give consumers the tools to find their branches, products and services quickly and easily."
Karl Kraus and Purvesh Patel, the founders of LocatorSearch and developers of its proprietary technology, joined Cardtronics as part of this transaction. In their roles with the company, Kraus and Patel will immediately apply their expertise to integrate LocatorSearch applications into Cardtronics' suite of ATM solutions, as well as leverage the technology to deploy solutions benefiting the company's retailer and merchant customers, as well as ATM network channel partners.
LocatorSearch provides the financial services industry with embedded "locator search" applications, enabling customers and members to quickly find the nearest branch office, ATM, surcharge-free ATM network or any other featured service. LocatorSearch technology can deliver location search results across web, mobile web, smartphone app and automated customer service platforms (IVR).
Cardtronics is the world's largest nonbank owner of ATMs. The company operates more than 37,100 ATMs in the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico and the Caribbean, primarily with retailers such as 7-Eleven, Chevron, Costco, CVS/pharmacy, ExxonMobil, Hess, Rite Aid, Safeway, Target and Walgreens. Cardtronics also assists in the operation of approximately 4,300 ATMs under managed services contracts with customers such as Kroger, Travelex, and Circle K. In addition to its retail ATM operations, the company provides services to large and small banks, credit unions and prepaid card issuers, allowing them to place their brands on 14,900 Cardtronics' ATMs and providing surcharge-free access through Cardtronics' Allpoint Network.
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