“The first consideration for any ATM fleet provider should be reducing cost and providing secure and reliable transactions”: TNS Head of Canada.

TNS’ Head of Canada, Shaun Leech, speaks to PaymentEye about the exciting opportunities and challenges entering the Canadian ATM market.

Can you explain your role at TNS?

Working alongside the leadership team in Reston, US, I am responsible for the business development, strategy and sales in Canada, based here in Toronto.

This team enables me to provide essential input into shaping our product development activities to ensure our solutions are aligned with the requirements of the Canadian market.

What are TNS’ goals in this region?

TNS is a global payment connectivity providers and trusted by hundreds of the organisations to securely deliver 24 billion payment transactions each year. We’ve been providing payment solutions for two decades, to merchants, banks and acquirers, processors, ATM operators and deployers.

The Canadian market is incredibly important to TNS. The ATM market in Canada happens to be one of the largest in the world. As a relatively new entrant to the Canadian ATM market, our focus over the next 12 months will be to continue to support our existing client base as they expand into Canada as well as a specific emphasis on our TNSLink product.

What do you see as the biggest challenge facing the Canadian ATM market?

Obviously fleet operating costs have been and, now more than ever, are a focus for the industry. Anyone operating a fleet of ATMs today is looking for ways to reduce operating costs.

Communications is the 2nd biggest cost when operating an ATM fleet. This is vital and is the way the ATM communicates with the financial institution’s host, be that via a dial up connection, a wired LAN connection or wireless connection. So, no matter what size your fleet is, the management and maintenance cost are going to be significant to remain functionable.

What solutions is TNS hoping to achieve in this market?

We are excited to bring our enhanced ATM technology to the Canadian market, specifically our TNSLink service to wireless ATMs. In short, TNSLink is a fully managed, PCI compliant solution for point of sale terminals, ATMs and unattended kiosks worldwide.

It’s a reliable, secure and cost-effective solution to all payment connectivity requirements largely because it is without restrictions on the type of device, host, transaction volumes or site requirements.

Specifically, for the independent ATM deployers, TNSLink reduces total cost of ownership by 26% on average whilst improving terminal up-time and simplifies operations.

A good example of this is MEPS (Malaysian Electronic Payment System). Since transitioning to TNS, MEPS has been able to double the size of its ATM fleet whilst reducing unforecasted visits by more than 25%.

What do you see as TNS’ biggest challenge in Canada?

As with any new market entry, brand recognition will always be something we pay particular attention too. As a new entrant in the Canadian market, we need to put our brand name out there and demonstrate that we are available to do business with.

Part of that comes from distinguishing ourselves from TNS Smart Network, which is a totally different payment provider who focus on prepaid solutions and payment processing. We’re Transaction Network Services. We are a global solution provider. Our challenge will be to continue to deliver world class service and solutions to our current and new customers.

What are you looking forward to over the next few months?

Myself along with the TNS team are looking forward to helping Canadian ATM operators and deployers reap the benefits of TNS’ technology and the advanced features that we can provide.

Having travelled to meet with various operators, financial institutions and industry associations, the feedback we have received shows that the ATM industry in Canada is competitive and margins can be tight, so opportunities to gain efficiencies can play a significant role in helping deliver strategic advantages.

Now that TNS has established a presence here in Canada, you will see TNS at various industry events including ATMIA, Cardware, Payments Canada Summit and others.

Having worked for some of Canada’s largest payment companies, it has given me a thorough understanding of ATM deployments both here and abroad, so I’m very familiar with the business objectives and targets our customers need to meet.”

We welcome our industry professionals and peers to find out what’s new and exciting at TNS!

Related reading