National ATM Council Celebrates Milestone as US ATMs Turn 50 in 2019

The National ATM Council, Inc. (NAC) has declared 2019 "The Year of the ATM in America", fifty years after the first US ATM was installed. The landmark cash-dispensing terminal, situated on the wall of a Chemical Bank branch in Rockville Centre, New York, went live September 2^nd, 1969.

Newspaper ads from Chemical read, "On Sept. 2, our bank will open at 9:00 AM and never close again!"

Based on the Petition and its supporting information, as well as other available data, Visa decided to allow consumers the option to have DCC services available at ATMs everywhere. When DCC becomes available at U.S. ATMs in April, Visa cardholders will have more choices, Visa acknowledged. The Company said it will publish additional DCC guidance in Visa Business News, where the updated rules, pricing and instructions on how to certify ATM solutions will be available to consumers, merchant acquirers and ATM deployers. Please stay tuned for further information. Read more >

NAC DCC Petition Granted

Visa Authorizes DCC at ATMs in the US and Worldwide

Effective April 13, 2019, all ATM owners and operators will be able to offer Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) services to their customers in the U.S. DCC is permitted today by MasterCard at U.S. ATMs and represents a meaningful revenue stream for many ATM providers. To date, Visa network rules have prohibited ATM deployers from providing DCC services, which policy was reversed by yesterday's announcement.

This decision follows a global Petition to Visa spearheaded by NAC and submitted in October 2017, requesting Visa's authorization for DCC at retail ATMs in the U.S. Visa's announcement yesterday grants the NAC Petition and expresses an intent to allow DCC at ATMs globally. We now must await the details behind Visa's global DCC implementation authorization, to become effective April 13, 2019. This will coincide with issuance of the revised Visa Rule Book.

NAC thanks Euronet Worldwide, Monex Financial Services, Planet, and CIBC, the leading DCC providers who spearheaded NAC's working group initiative that led to Visa's approval. NAC also thanks the hundreds of NAC member companies and individuals who signed the Petition and provided the grassroots support that helped secure yesterday's result. NAC likewise appreciates the consideration Visa has given to our DCC Petition and the decision to authorize this positive service for U.S. ATM consumers and deployers.

NAC's Petition to Visa garnered close to 1,000 signatures from the U.S. and abroad, including both industry participants and consumers. Along with the Petition, NAC supplied Visa with ample data showing that DCC was a "consumer friendly" service that enjoyed broad usage and significant repeat cardholder usage in jurisdictions where DCC is allowed elsewhere in the world.

Press Release: NAC2018 Conference Reports Record Attendance - Showcases Major Breaking ATM Industry News

Las Vegas, NV, November 2, 2018 - NAC2018 featured a focused educational program with a large faculty of ATM and Payments industry experts, covering the areas of most interest to US ATM deployers. Attendees responded by filling meeting rooms to capacity, leaving hotel employees scrambling to provide more seats to accomodate standing room only audiences. Attendees, according to initial feedback, were also impressed by the number of new products exhibited on the show floor and highlighted in "flash presentation" sessions.

"It was a really vibrant and upbeat atmosphere at last week's conference, reflecting the close-knit US Independent/Retail ATM community and excellent networking that mark our annual event," said NAC Chair and Access One CEO, George Sarantopoulos. "When you bring hundreds of ATM operators, suppliers and industry experts together from across the country, the learning, networking and positive business experience that takes place is phenomenal."

Exciting new opportunities were presented at NAC2018 in the emerging BitCoin/Crypto ATM and terminal based gaming/sports betting channels, with special relevance for America's ATM ISOs/IADs. Highlighting the NAC2018 faculty were Federal Reserve of Atlanta payments experts Dave Lott and Doug King, providing insights on the state of cash in America and the regulatory viewpoint on emerging Crypto ATM products and services. Keynote remarks by US Secret Service Special Agent John Lapati highlighted the conference's ATM Security Academy III program. Professor Christopher Baynard, PhD presented the findings from his PhD team's first of its kind locational study of ATMs in America, including results on how independent/retail ATMs account for almost 60% of the terminals today in our nation, with a statistically valid number serving lower socio-economic communities across the US.

Also highlighting this year's show was recent breaking news that global network giant VISA plans to authorize provision of Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) for its cardholders at ATMs in the US and worldwide, effective April 13, 2019. It was noted by VISA spokespersons at the show that this policy change was reached in no small part upon the public petition and supporting data/documentation initated by NAC almost exactly one year ago during the NAC2017 Conference & Expo.

While news of the decision broke just days prior to the LAs vEgas event, NAC officials were able to coordinate to have VISA subject matter experts Goran Ribar and Hitesh Patel present at NAC2018 to deliver the implemntation/certification details. Based upon current DCC numbers associated with MasterCard DCC ATM trnasactions (already in place at US ATMs), positive impacts for US ATM deployers from the added VISA transaction volumes are expected to be significant.

Another featured piece of breaking news during NAC2018 was the announcement that top US Congressional leadership had sent correspondence to the top three federal banking regulators, seeking immediate action to stop the ongoing rash of bank account closures and nationwide blacklisting of independent/retail ATM deployer bank accounts. Notably, even with the advent of upcoming mid-term elections, this pointed and forceful correspondence was an all too rare bi-partisan communication, that was directly in line with recent virtually unanimous bi-partisan House of Representative votes to end the ill-advised Operation Choke Point initiative.

View the Letter Here

"NAC and the millions of Americans our members are privileged to serve cannot adequately express our thanks and appreciation to House Financial Institutions Submcommittee Chairman Blaine Luetkemeyer and senior House Financial Services Committee member Carolyn Maloney for their efforts in seeking immediate action from bank regulators to help end the current ATM bank account blacklisting crisis," said NAC Executive Director, Bruce Renard. "We are hopeful this step will spur necessary acction by bank regulatros an the nation's largest banks to promptly resolve this crisis."

NAC also announced next year's annual tradeshow, NAC2019 Conference & Expo, will be taking place on October 15-17th, 2019 at Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas.

Thank You to All Who Made NAC2018 a Success!

Join us for NAC2019 at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas

October 15 - 17th, 2019!

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