Provider of ATM services, ITS, has inked a $250 million, five year contract with Cashcard Australia through its parent company Armaguard for the provision of end-to-end ATM equipment and services.

The agreement will see ITS deliver an estimated 6,000 ATMs with the latest technology across the country. This new agreement upgrades the existing five year ATM maintenance services contract signed with Cashcard Australia in 2001. As part of this new arrangement, the Cashcard ATM network will replace the majority of its existing ATM models from multiple manufacturers with Wincor Nixdorf ATMs, the first ATM manufacturer to be officially accredited by the Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA).

The Wincor Nixdorf ATMs conform to global security standards, and provide greater deterrents in the area of personal fraud with enhanced personal identification number (PIN) security. The first order for new ATMs has been received by ITS and implementation is expected to commence this month. ITS CEO, Barry Dow, said Australians rely on ATMs for over 72 million transactions each month.

He said Armaguard will become the first company to provide a single point of contact for hardware, software, cash management, funding and management, complete line maintenance and relevant site security and alarm planning.

"With a lower total cost of ownership we would expect to see them benefit from immediate cost savings and planned revenue generation," Dow said. "We believe that this model is also our springboard to developing ATM networks in rapid ATM deployment areas such as the Middle East and Asia."

ITS and Wincor Nixdorf have established a local Research and Development facility in Sydney to facilitate staff and customer training, ongoing product development and customisation projects for hardware and software requirements. Wincor Nixdorf Singapore CEO, K.H.Lim said the plan is to implement a technology transfer program with local representatives and ensure that they remain accredited in leading ATM technology and servicing.

ITS is a subsidiary of Armaguard which is a Linfox company. ITS currently maintains over 50 per cent of all Australian installed ATMs.