Europe Newsletter

January 2020

Dear Member,

Happy New Year!

The fresh, sparkling year starting is a good time for a change and I have an announcement to make about a change in my life.

After nearly six years, as of today, the 6th of January, I am no longer providing services as the Executive Director of ATMIA Europe. Mike Lee, the ATMIA CEO, will take on the role on an interim basis immediately.

At a personal level, whilst I will continue to provide some services to the ATMIA in the UK on a consultancy basis, the time has come to spread my wings again!

I am planning to devote a portion of my time in 2020 to my role as Chairman of CaLP, the Cash Learning Partnership. It is an honour to have been elected to the position. I am excited to be helping to guide the future of an organisation founded by some of the world's foremost charities.

I will also be devoting some of my time to a range of new projects. These projects span Europe - no Brexit for me! - a continent that, in my view, deserves much more prominence as a world-leading community. I hope to play my part, in my own small way, to help Europe to achieve that prominence.

None of this will, of course, deflect me from continuing to campaign for Payment Choice for everyone - and, naturally, for cash to be one of the available choices forever!

In the meantime, I would like to sincerely wish all of my European members well, including our three newest members, Banking Automation, OVIA and Payten. I knew most of you long before my time at the ATMIA and it has been a great pleasure to work with the vast majority of members. I will no doubt remain in touch with many of you as my work in financial services continues.

I would also like to wish colleagues within the ATMIA well. Some have become very good friends. Those friendships have helped to make it all worthwhile.

Finally, as far as thanks go, I would like to recognise the efforts of my co-editor of this newsletter, Jo Ryan. She has done a great job and it has been a pleasure to work with her every month.

For those wishing to get in touch at any time, I will be delighted to hear from you via email at ron@rondelnevo.com. My phone number is below and has never changed.

For now ...

Best wishes & au revoir, fellow Europeans!
Ron

Ron Delnevo,
ron@rondelnevo.com
+44 (0) 7973210154

Advocacy

This section covers only the most up to date news on Europe’s Advocacy. For further background, see the Europe page of the ATMIA website here and previous issues of this Newsletter on the website here.

Six key issues for ATMIA Europe Advocacy in the next months - and, in some cases, years - as we support all aspects of Payment Choice around Europe:

Ensuring changes to payment scheme rules do not damage the interests of ATM operators, endangering access to cash for all.
Ensuring Dynamic Currency Conversion at ATMs remains an option for customers and a profitable transaction for ATM operators.
Supporting the implementation of a transparent European model for the calculation of ATM interchange.
Supporting the implementation of a Universal ATM Cash Deposit, allowing ATM users to deposit cash at any ATM.
Ensuring the UK LINK ATM Network survives to provide cash access that is conveniently accessible for all members of the public and businesses.
Supporting the introduction of legal safeguards in every European market, to legally protect both access to cash and the acceptance of cash for in-person payments.

We shall update on some of these key issues each month.

Changes in Payment Scheme Rules Which Can Impact The Economics of ATMs

Around Europe, there are Payment right Scheme Rule changes in prospect which can impact the economics of ATMs.

Universal Cash Deposits at UK ATMs

This wonderful and intensely practical innovation will allow cardholders with bank accounts to deposit cash at ANY enabled ATM in the UK, rather than having to search for a branch or ATM of their own bank.

In their 29 August 2019 Access to Cash Report, the Scottish Affairs Committee of the UK Parliament came out strongly in support of the ATMIA stance on cash deposit ATMs.

Dynamic Currency Conversion at ATMs

The European Commission announced in 2018 that new transparency proposals for DCC will NOT include a cap on margins.

This is an important matter, with new transparent measures being introduced in early 2020.

The European ATM Executive Team had a meeting with the European Commission in early November to discuss all aspects of this issue.

Supporting Payment Choice in the UK

An arbitrary 10% cut to LINK interchange in 2018 has seen 10% of UK ATMs disappear and thousands more free-to-use ATMs switch to pay-to-use in 2019.

In the next 12 months, the number of free-to-use ATMs could reduce to around 40,000, a loss of more than 20% of the free ATM estate from peak levels of convenience to the UK public.

On 28 August 2019, ATMIA Europe issued an important press release on this subject.

Link announced a small scheme in late September, asking communities that want an ATM to contact them. However, there are strict criteria and the initial funding for this idea only covers 40 to 50 ATMs. It is not a solution to the loss of thousands of ATMs already since 2017 or the new losses of ATMs every day.

Barclays dealt Post Offices a blow in October when they announced that their customers would not be able to use cards to obtain cash at Post Office Counters from early 2020.

Even though Barclays reversed their decision within two weeks, their initial move alerted everyone to the fact that government intervention, in the shape of legislation, will be required to safeguard access to cash. Which? have now joined ATMIA Europe in calling for the government to intervene.

In November, the Bank of England ran two round tables to discuss potential changes to the wholesale distribution of banknotes in the UK. These were very interesting forums that inspired many valuable insights. There will be further discussions when KPMG, who are commissioned to produce a report and recommendations, publish their draft findings in H1 2020.

Read even more here.

Ron Delnevo Speaking to the Scottish Affairs Committee, in the UK Parliament

Payment Choice in Sweden

Sweden has been the source of boring and inaccurate stories about “cashless” for years.

You can find out the truth here, including up to the minute news on the bill the government is working on to compel bank branches to handle cash - both deposits and withdrawals - at the counters.

It was announced on 1 August that cash in circulation in Sweden increased by over 7% last year. This shows that cash IS able to make a comeback in the country!

A Bill to compel banks to accept and dispense cash at ALL branches is likely to be put before the Swedish parliament in H1 2020 at the latest.

Visibility

News From ATMIA Members Worldwide

Ron Delnevo, ATMIA Europe and Chairman of Cash & Card World, gives his views on payment choice to ATM Marketplace

Contributing Editor: Amy Castor, ATMmarketplace.com

A Scot who lives in Edinburgh, Delnevo has been in the cash business for two decades. He first got involved with ATMs in 1998, when he began working for Euronet. Later that year, the Kansas-based firm installed the first independently operated ATM in the U.K. At the time, the other 25,000 cash machines in the country were all owned by banks. A lot has changed since.

Read full Q&A.

Ron Delnevo, Executive Director ATMIA Europe

Ron Delnevo speaking at the ATMIA conference in Rome in October 2019.
Photo: Debbie Smyth Photography.

Taking a look back at 2 banking events in 2019

From the delicious coffee booth we sponsored to the engaging conversations we struck up with banks and financial organisations, there were loads of highlights from #ATMEurope2019 and #BT19, but here are a few of our favourites.

Read full article.

Happy Birthday For UK Independent ATM's? Not exactly!

Ron Delnevo, founding father of the UK Independent ATM market, talks about the past - and the future!

Read full article.

Members of gang who botched cash machine raid branded with chemical - which will stay on their skin for up to FIVE YEARS

The three thieves broke into the Co-op store in Maple Road, Brooklands, near Sale, early on Friday. They attached a chain to their getaway vehicle and dragged the machine out of the shop. But the raid failed and left them marked men.

Read full article.

Members of gang who botched cash machine raid branded with chemical

Education

Market Intelligence Library

The MIL contains some strong overviews of the payment and regulation landscapes in a number of different countries. It includes recently issued articles and document on ATMs and payments, plus key items from the press.

The following links will take you to listings of current interest:

The Cash Repository

A wide range of current data and information about the global role of cash in society, from a variety of sources.

Recent Articles & Resources:

Find more resources including reports, articles, white papers, position papers, infographics, videos, links and presentations at CashRepository.com.

ATMIA Academy E-Learning

ATMIA Academy offers both general industry and job-specific training opportunities.

ATM Tube

Featuring videos about all things ATM. Be sure to check out the latest video on our ATM tube as well as upload your own company videos.

ATMIA Resources

ATMIA News

Join the Future-Proofing of the ATM Industry

ATMIA’s Consortium for Next Gen ATMs is developing a new API App model for future ATMs. This global movement is free to join - simply email Mike Lee to become part of this critical exercise to ensure our technologies stay relevant for the next generation.

Connections

ATM Industry Career Center

For more information on this industry-specific recruiting tool go to the ATM Industry Career Center, or contact U.S executive director, David Tente, or global director of finance and member services, Sharon Lane.

Member to Member Introductions

Connecting with ATMIA members is easy. Go to the Member Directory, sign in and search for new contacts by keyword, company type, country or region.

Simply click the Request Introduction button to email a personalised message with your contact information. Recipients will know that ATMIA sanctioned your outreach.

Member of the Month

Our Member of the Month for January is - all my European Members!