Euronet Worldwide, the American giant of global electronic payment services, has launched a new line of business in Spain as part of its growth strategy with the aim of strengthening its position as an ATM manager in the country. To this end, the company based in Leawood, Kansas, has launched a commercial initiative and has already entered into negotiations with numerous banking entities in the Spanish market with the aim of promoting its portfolio of ATM services and seeking alliances.
Euronet currently has more than 52,000 ATMs, owned or in operation, around the world, of which more than 30,000 are in Europe. In Spain, it has more than 3,800 ATMs that cover the entire national territory. This figure is only surpassed by CaixaBank (around 13,000), Santander (around 5,000) and BBVA (around 4,000).
In addition to expanding its own independent ATM network in Spain, Euronet has signed more than 77 bilateral agreements with respective banks in Spain, allowing the banks’ customers preferential access to their ATM network. These banks include Bankinter, ING, Caja Rural, Eurocaja Rural, Laboral Kutxa, EVO Banco, Triodos Bank, Caixa Guissona and the EURO 6000 ATM network.
The new initiative launched by Euronet has two aspects. On the one hand, it seeks agreements to manage banks’ ATM networks through outsourcing contracts. The company assumes responsibility for all ATM services, including ATM monitoring and maintenance services, as well as cash management, forecasting and replenishment. The company maintains that “the benefits for banks are significant, as Euronet’s own technology and operating model guarantee higher service levels and significant cost savings.” This is a model that is already developed and present in many other countries. In Europe, it is already used by several banks in Poland, Germany, Serbia, Romania and Greece.
The second main objective of the American firm is to accelerate its growth through the acquisition of bank ATMs that would be integrated into the Euronet ATM network in Spain. In this case, “banks benefit from an expanded ATM network with thousands of points available to their customers, eliminating unproductive assets from their balance sheet, thus improving their profitability ratios and avoiding investments in replacements or upgrades of ATMs” .
This formula has also been developed in other European countries. Thus, in recent years, Euronet has acquired ATMs from several banks, such as Bank of Ireland, BNP Paribas, Citibank, Crédit Agricole, Vista Bank or Patria Bank, among others. Last year Euronet also acquired part of the ATM network of Banco Santander in Poland, in the first operation of this type with a Spanish entity. Euronet now intends to replicate these agreements in Spain by acquiring ATMs located both inside and outside bank offices.
The new value proposition addresses a key challenge facing banks today in a new and highly dynamic payments landscape. On the one hand, investments are needed to compete in the new field of digital banking and, on the other, the ATM network is an asset that requires continuous investments to adapt to new technologies and security requirements. Although digital payments are growing, cash remains a key payment instrument, and banks are facing the dilemma of whether to reduce their ATM network or invest in new ATM technologies.
“Euronet’s objective is to offer a complete solution that assumes responsibility for all ATM operations with the option of acquiring the assets of the banks, thus offering a better service with an optimized cost model,” says the firm.
“At Euronet we are committed to offering innovative and efficient solutions that benefit both banks and their clients,” Juan Antonio Rodríguez Ibáñez, director of FI Solutions and Technology Business Unit in Spain, tells this newspaper. “Our new value proposition not only optimizes banks’ operating costs, but also improves the end-user experience by guaranteeing broader and more secure access to ATMs and we are convinced that our strategic alliances and our advanced technology will allow Spanish banks to remain competitive in a constantly evolving market,” he underlines.
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