TM giant eFunds Corp. announced on Sept. 20, 2004 that it plans to sell its entire portfolio of 17,200 ATM contracts for $150 million in cash to Portland, Ore.-based TRM Corp. TRM, a provider of convenience ATM and photocopying services in high-traffic retail environments, said that with the acquisition, it will now operate the largest ATM network in the world. It will include more than 21,800 ATMs located throughout North America and the United Kingdom.

eFunds' ATMs, both owned and leased, are under merchant contracts throughout the United States and Canada, with the highest concentration in California, Colorado and Illinois. Of the units, 2,200 are full-placement and 15,000 are merchant-owned.

An e-payment spin off of check printer Deluxe Corp., eFunds built its ATM portfolio over the last few years from the acquisition of several smaller networks, including Access Cash.

"Selling our ATM deployment business and expanding our management services operations is part of eFunds' strategy to focus on higher growth, higher margin opportunities, while augmenting our global footprint in our core outsourcing, processing and risk management businesses," Paul F. Walsh, Chairman and CEO of eFunds said in a statement.

The companies also agreed that as part of a five-year contract, eFunds will manage TRM's entire portfolio.

It appears that eFunds prefers managing and maintaining ATMs rather than owning them. "It's the company's core competency; it's what we do best," an eFunds employee said at the recent ATM Industry Association conference held in San Diego, Sept. 20 - 22, 2004.

The companies expect the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals, to close by the end of 2004. On the day the deal was announced, eFunds' shares increased almost 16% to $18.49 and TRM's shares rose nearly 33% to $18.15. Both stocks are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Another sale of a large ATM portfolio occurred this year when Cardtronics announced in June plans to buy 13,100 of E*Trade's ATMs and related placement agreements.