Reading ATM route placement agreement with a sceptical eye

What to take away

Most operators think about the commission and nothing else. The commission decides how a good placement is shared. The rest of the agreement decides what happens to a bad one, and bad ones are more common than the trade admits.

The commission structures, and what each one shifts

None of these is generous or mean by nature. A flat monthly fee is generous to a quiet site and punishing to you. A share of the surcharge feels fair and quietly hands the host a veto over your pricing. Decide which risk you would rather carry, then pick the structure that carries it.

Whatever you choose, define the unit precisely. A completed withdrawal is not the same as an attempted one, a balance inquiry, or a transaction the machine reversed. Say which count is used and where it comes from.

Sequencing the negotiation: qualify first, price second

The venue is enthusiastic, you want the site, and the number gets agreed. Then the count comes in lower than either of you assumed and the term runs three more years.

Split it: first visit is qualification using the method in the guide to finding profitable locations.

Second visit is terms, after you see the hours you care about and form a view on the count using the forecasting approach in the site selection guide. If a host insists on a number immediately, offer a structure, not a figure. Explain how their share will be calculated and what it depends on.

The four events that end a placement

Write your agreement around these, because one of them will happen.

The venue closes or changes hands. The most common ending, and the one people plan for least. The agreement should say what happens to the machine, who is responsible for it during a closure, whether the terms bind a new owner, and how quickly you can retrieve equipment. A machine locked inside a shut building is an expensive lesson.

The host wants more money. Usually after a busy period, often after a competitor calls. Decide in advance whether the agreement is reopened mid-term, and if so on what evidence. A clause that allows a review at a stated point is better than a term nobody can discuss and everybody resents.

The service goes wrong. Empty machines, slow repairs, a run of faults. The host's remedy should be written down: what response they can expect, what happens if it is missed repeatedly, and what notice ends the arrangement. Vague service promises favor nobody, because the argument then happens without a reference point. Agree the standard while both of you are content, not at the moment of complaint.

Something happens to the machine. Damage, an attack, a vehicle reversing into it, or water. Say who insures what, who reports it and to whom, who pays for repair, and what happens to the cash inside. This is the clause most often missing and most expensive to be missing.

For the review point in the host-wants-more-money event: In practice, a stated review point is a named date, such as the first anniversary, plus a named trigger, such as a 20% fall in withdrawals over three months.

Model clause for venue closure: 'If the venue closes, changes hands, or stops operating, this agreement ends on 30 days' written notice unless the new owner signs a replacement agreement. The operator may enter during business hours to remove the machine and restore the wall and floor.'

Checklist wording for machine damage: 'The host reports damage, theft, or interference within 24 hours. The operator carries insurance on the machine and the cash inside it. The host carries public liability for the premises. The operator repairs or replaces the machine unless the damage came from host negligence.'

Terms that are not about money and matter anyway

Keeping the agreement alive

Signed agreements go in a drawer and stop being read. Keep a single sheet per site listing the host, the commission structure, the unit it is paid on, the term end, the notice period and the position agreed. Review it whenever the site is serviced by someone new or the venue changes hands.

The paperwork is a business record with a retention life and interacts with what your bank and processor expect. The single sheet should carry the same retention period as the signed agreement and should be available if your bank asks for site-level records.

the licensing and compliance overview sets out who asks for what. the FinCEN statement on independent ATM operator banking describes the risk-based review your account sits inside.

Common questions

What commission rate is normal?

There is no normal that survives crossing a state line, and a figure quoted here would be a guess about your market. Ask what structure competing operators use locally, decide which risk you want to hold, and negotiate the level from your own numbers.

For scale, a site doing 1,200 withdrawals a month at a $3.00 surcharge collects $3,600 in surcharge revenue. A 25% host share is $900 a month, or $10,800 a year. Treat both numbers as an arithmetic example, not a market rate.

Should the host see the transaction reports?

Giving them the count you pay on removes most future arguments, and hosts who can see the number tend to promote the machine. Agree what is shared and how often, in the agreement, rather than deciding under pressure.

Can I raise the surcharge mid-term?

That depends entirely on what you signed and on the rules your processor and networks apply, and it is a question for them and for the agreement itself, not for a general article. If your commission is a share of the surcharge, expect the host to have a view.

How long should the term be?

Long enough to recover the install and prove the site, short enough that a bad placement is not a five-year problem. The equipment planning behind that judgment sits in the inventory and sourcing guide, and what a growing route does to your negotiating position is covered in the expansion material.