UK transaction processing outfit VocaLink has won a three year deal to operate HSBC's new remote estate of free-to-use cash machines which will be located convenience stores across the country.
Under the terms of the deal VocaLink will manage the end-to-end operation of the remote network, including the ATM operating infrastructure. The vendor will also supply chain services.
Vocalink says the fully managed service it will provide to HSBC has a lower total cost of ownership than the traditional model
"Our ATM managed service proposition enables banks to improve their ATM channel performance. HSBC's implementation will allow them to deploy their ATMs cost effectively into convenience locations where demand continues to grow," says Martin Wilson, chief marketing officer at VocaLink.
Tim Hutchins, head of self service and branch counters at HSBC, adds: "We chose to work with VocaLink for this project because of their knowledge of, and leadership in, the ATM market and in particular the convenience sector which has increased our speed to market for this proposition. This is a great fit with the LINK Financial Inclusion Programme and supports HSBC's commitment to deploy free to use ATMs."
HSBC is one of the banks rolling out free-to-use cash machines, specifically in low income areas, under a deal agreed with ATM operators and the government in December 2006, which followed an investigation by the parliamentary Treasury Select Committee into the growing number of fee-charging cash machines in the UK.
A report released in July that year by national charity Citizens Advice found that customers in poorer communities are being hit the hardest by ATM charges as banks close branches and remove units.
In response to the report HSBC said that it would invest £50 million in installing new fee-free units in at least 10% of the country's "free ATM deserts", while Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and HBOS said they would install around 400 free-to-use cash machines in some of the UK's poorest areas. RBS has rolled out 100 of the 300 units it pledged across sub-post offices around the UK.
However the move by HSBC to roll out unit to convenience stores puts the bank in direct competition with independent ATM operators such as Cashbox which charge customers a fee for withdrawing cash.