California Federal Renews ATM Servicing Contract

California Federal has agreed to a three-year extension of its ATM servicing agreement with Genpass, the largest independent ATM maintenance and servicing company in the United States.

For California Federal, one of the largest savings and loans in the country, ATMs are a vital component of the services it provides customers, so keeping the machines up and running is a top priority.

The 356-branch bank said it was pleased with the service and pricing offered by Genpass Service Solutions.

"One of the main reasons for sticking with Genpass was that they could service any of the three main ATM types-NCR, Fujitsu, and Diebold," said Bobbi Eddy, vice president of ATM services at San Francisco-based California Federal.

"The second main reason was that because they currently service our machines, and because they service the three main types, their pricing was scaled better," said Eddy. "From a pricing perspective, they were more than competitive."

Genpass provides both first- and second-line servicing for 98 percent of California Federal's 485 ATMs in California, with the other two percent on service contracts with other companies, depending on their specific machine requirements. First-line servicing takes care of non-technical problems like paper jams and running out of paper or ink. Second-line servicing deals with hardware issues and technical problems. Genpass provides servicing from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Genpass has been meeting California Federal's goal of having its ATMs up and running 98.5 percent of the time. Genpass is divided into two regions: northern and southern California. This way, technicians within each region can be familiar with routes and machines and arrive quickly at a site for servicing. "With Genpass, you have technicians that know how to get there as quickly as possible," said Eddy.

Genpass works with California Federal's ATM host, Midwest Payment Systems (MPS), with which California Federal also has a multiyear contract. In addition to processing card data and ATM transactions, MPS monitors the functioning of California Federal's ATM machines 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If it detects a problem with an ATM machine, MPS dispatches Genpass to send a repair person to the site.

MPS then tracks the repair process, receiving monthly reports from Genpass on repair activity, as well as weekly reports about sites that seem to be particularly problematic. California Federal can track the repairs, as well, through reports from MPS.

"California Federal Bank considers Genpass one of our strategic partners in ensuring our customers have access to their cash when they want it, where they want it," said Eddy.

The contract renewal marks the third between California Federal and Genpass. The renewal means that Genpass continues to have a significant base in the western United States, while it continues its expansion.

California Federal's ATMs are an important share of the California EFT market and provide a stable base for expansion, according to Alan Mulder, senior vice president of sales at Genpass.

California Federal regards Genpass as a strategic partner, noted Eddy. "The range of services that Genpass provides, in addition to the commitments they have made, allows us to rely on them as our primary ATM service provider."

Genpass owns the Moneymaker and Money Belt EFT networks. The company, which processes over 270 million transactions annually, is one of the top five ATM drivers in the United States.