Scaling Up Your ATM ISO Business

If you’ve always wanted to build your own fleet of terminals, getting to the heart of ATM processing is important. As an ATM processor, Switch Commerce not only provides those who own ATMs the tools to do business well, but also serves as a resource for answering questions such as how monitoring terminals by web portal works, or how larger fleets’ time-consuming ATM management tasks can be divided and conquered among partners.

To own an ATM is one thing; to operate your ATMs fully, you need to have an ATM processor involved. Switch Commerce can guide you down the path to making the best choices in ATM management as you set up our monitoring tools. If you’re wondering where to start, approach any one of the sponsor banks to gain permission to access the card networks and run transactions—it’s the starting point for any new, un-sponsored owner-operator who has terminals to set up.

ATM Owner and Operator Terminology

If you own and operate an ATM, you’re traditionally referred to as an “ISO” (Independent Sales Organization) or now the more specialized industry term, “IAD” (Independent ATM Deployer). A “sponsored ATM ISO” has established representation through one of the sponsor banks procuring direct credit card network access for ATM owners and operators with portfolios exceeding 50,000 transactions per year. By establishing sponsorship, Switch Commerce can work with you to secure ATM processing for your terminals—an essential piece of the puzzle for completing transactions through the ATMs you own.

Factors to Consider

There are a number of important points to consider when making the decision to pursue sponsorship as an ISO or IAD.

  • Total number of active terminals today
  • Total monthly transaction volume
  • Availability of partners to introduce to your network
  • Interest in growing your business nationwide

4 ATM ISO or IAD Requirements

  • Sponsorship – approval from one of four sponsor banks
  • Network compliance – adherence to the regulations from the credit card networks as a condition of access
  • Bank compliance – adherence to the standards set forth by the chosen sponsor bank
  • Cost – sponsorship comes with “initiation” dues, renewable annually

Becoming a Sponsored ATM ISO

Before you can get started with ATM processing, talking with a sponsor bank is your first step. With several sponsor banks to choose from, taking the next step is much less cumbersome than it may sound. Once you contact a sponsor bank, their team will perform due diligence on your organization, and make a decision based on the risk and the number of terminals in your portfolio.

Once an ATM ISO is approved for underwriting, establishing a contract with the bank permits them to collect basis points on every transaction. The bank also reaches out to the credit card networks to register the ATM ISO’s business–working with you to walk through the paperwork for the 30 to 60 day time frame before approval. Meanwhile, Switch Commerce keeps watch over your chosen bank to monitor for their approval notification. From that point, the Switch Commerce team completes our contract with the ISO to begin ATM processing.

ATM Processing – Getting Started

We make it easy to get started. Signing on with Switch Commerce means transferring your entire terminal portfolio over to our ATM processing service. We offer a one-time batch upload of your portfolio’s terminal information, allowing us to create all new terminal IDs within seconds.

Why Become Sponsored

Once you reach a certain level of success as an ATM ISO or IAD, many ISOs want to become sponsored to grow their business after reaching the 50,000 transactions a year benchmark.

Direct Accessibility

Sponsored ISOs can work directly with Switch Commerce to drill directly into the ATM processing tools and services we offer—giving you the freedom to use our ATM monitoring software to establish protocols among the partners in your network, delegating the day-to-day tasks that comprise the more time-consuming aspects of ATM management. It’s the freedom that becoming a sponsored ATM ISO affords you.

Delegate With Efficiency Tools. Our Terminal Management System was developed to add partners (other ISOs or even merchants) beneath ATM ISOs to delegate ATM management tasks. Add a layer of responsibility underneath you and filter tasks through the organization, allowing others in your network to manage their own information and their own terminals.

Getting Started with Sponsorship

To become a confirmed ATM ISO, only your bank sponsorship will allow you to deal directly with any ATM processor as a client. By forming a relationship with one of the four sponsor banks that regulate ATM ISOs, you’ll have everything you need to access the major credit card networks as a third party to your sponsor bank.

Sponsored ISOs and IADs can then gain direct access to

  • Your own Switch Commerce TMS account, to have customize our ATM management tool
  • Create a terminal ID to initiate a transaction
  • Access paperless terminal setup for getting ATMs online with no scanning and waiting on paperwork
  • Enter information on your own ATM and a terminal ID for terminal setup in minutes
  • Give partner ISOs under you access and flexibility to manager terminals
  • Negotiate then create surcharge fee splits in the TMS and establish bank accounts remotely

If you’re an ATM ISO, use MobileTMS when you’re on-the-move as a tool to get terminal work done faster. Test out its portability for looking up terminal information from the field, with or without becoming a Switch Commerce client.