ATM Scrip Program
UtiliSource Corp. Wednesday announced the addition of a new merchant service, the ATM Scrip Program, offered to retailers nationwide through the company’s merchant financial services division, Eastern Pacific Financial.
UtiliSource Corp., formerly known as Eastern Pacific Energy Corp., is a multi-utility service provider, offering low-cost electricity, natural gas and telephone services to primarily commercial customers.
“The ATM Scrip Program is a natural fit with our predominantly commercial customer base,” said James Lezie, CEO and president of UtiliSource Corp. “The retail companies that are the primary users of this program read like a Who’s Who of existing UtiliSource customers.
“This new generation ATM Scrip Program provides another profit center for us,” he added. “Our ATM Scrip Program will generate an additional source of fees and recurring revenues for UtiliSource.”
For commercial customers nationwide, UtiliSource provides merchant services including the new ATM Scrip Program. Through an alliance with a California-based company, UtiliSource is marketing the new generation ATM Scrip Program to retail merchants nationwide.
UtiliSource receives two sources of revenues through the program: a one-time, up-front placement fee and a recurring revenue stream, representing a percentage of the transaction fee charged each time a customer uses the ATM scrip machine.
The scrip is a coupon with a monetary value equal to its face amount that the customer redeems at the retailer’s cash register for merchandise. The customer uses an ATM debit card and PIN code to access an ATM-like machine that issues the scrip. Any balance left over after the sale is given to the customer in cash.
The ATM Scrip Program increases sales for the retail merchant and pays the merchant a fee for each transaction, while offering convenience and safety to customers. Merchants prefer scrip over a credit card or debit card sale because there is no transaction fee with the scrip. The customer pays a small transaction fee for the service through a bank account debit.
More than 71 percent of U.S. households use ATM cards and there are eight times more bank ATM debit cards in use than credit cards, according to the most recent industry statistics available. The number of ATM debit terminals at retailers grew from 155,000 in 1993 to nearly 529,000 in 1995, according to Debit Card News.
In addition, gas stations, supermarkets and other retail establishments showed the greatest gains in terms of ATM debit terminal growth by industry segment.
Primary target retailers for the ATM Scrip program include gas stations, truck stops, supermarkets, convenience stores, entertainment centers, theaters, public golf courses, bowling alleys, liquor stores, bars, lottery outlets, restaurants and night clubs.
“As we move closer to a cashless and checkless society, ATM debit cards are the logical solution,” Lezie said. “The ATM Scrip Program strengthens the relationship between UtiliSource and its retail commercial customers, providing us with the opportunity to offer additional merchant services as well as our low-cost electricity, natural gas and telephone services to commercial customers.”
UtiliSource, an industry leading multi-utility service provider, offers low-cost environmentally clean, GreenSource(SM) electricity to residential and qualified commercial customers in California as well as natural gas, telephone and merchant services. The company already has signed contracts with more than 22,000 commercial customers in California alone. UtiliSource currently has in place or is in the process of negotiating strategic alliances and partnerships with other major sources of electricity, natural gas, telecommunications and merchant services.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties. These include, but are not limited to, quarterly fluctuations in results; timely availability and customer acceptance of new products; the impact of competitive products and pricing; general market trends and conditions; and other risks detailed in the company’s SEC filings. Actual results may vary materially from projected results.
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