HOUSTON, June 27, 2023 – Alliance Catholic Credit Union in Michigan has embraced the future of cash by adding five interactive teller machines (ITMs) from Dolphin Debit to its ATM fleet.
Dolphin Debit, the full-service ATM and ITM management company, completed installation of the ITMs for Alliance Catholic earlier this year, bringing the total number of machines to 15 for the $613 million credit union, which serves more than 32,000 Catholic members in southeastern Michigan.
Alliance Catholic’s ITMs were part of its overall relationship with Dolphin Debit, which the credit union partnered with after years of managing its own ATM fleet. Adam Tonge, Vice President of Retail Services for Alliance Catholic, says moving to Dolphin has been a great advantage now that Dolphin takes care of updates, technology, compliance, and service.
“It’s great to have a single point of contact. Communication has been excellent from the Dolphin staff. One of the things that Dolphin is great at is taking care of issues quickly,” Tonge said. As a result, he added, the credit union is seeing much greater reliability and improved member service with its machines.
Implementing advanced technology such as ITMs can seem intimidating for credit unions, but Tonge said the deployment and operation has been essentially flawless.
Alliance Catholic placed its initial ITMs at new locations and at existing locations to replace some older ATMs. The plan, Tonge indicated, is to “add them at locations where we may not need a high level of staffing or when replacing something like a drive-thru. The member experience is also much improved on the ITM over the drive-thru tubes.”
Reaction to the ITMs has been overwhelmingly positive, Tonge said. He emphasized how important it is to engage with members when implementing the new technology. Ongoing engagement has successfully driven enthusiastic adoption, he noted.
Overall, Tonge said, the ITMs’ “uptime is even better than the ATMs. Dolphin has worked with us to improve reliability even more. They have been a great partner with this implementation.”
Alliance Catholic is planning to add more ITMs to its fleet in the coming months, and Tonge anticipates they will be in “every drive-thru and part of every new branch we build. ITMs are definitely part of our future. ITMs are helping us grow our footprint with smaller, more cost-effective branch locations. The branch model with an ITM allows us to test new markets with a smaller human and financial capital investment.”
Assessing the partnership, Tonge noted that “Our ATMs have been much more reliable with Dolphin. They send knowledgeable techs, involve other vendors if necessary, update software, and perform regular maintenance. Prior to Dolphin, we did not have a proper process in place to achieve this level of reliability.”
“ITMs are without a doubt the future when it comes to meeting members’ needs for cash,” said Joe Woods, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Partnerships for Dolphin Debit. “Alliance Catholic has recognized this and is taking big strides toward that future.”
About Dolphin Debit Access
Dolphin Debit Access, a subsidiary of Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: EEFT) is a full-service ATM & ITM management company that owns and operates ATMs & ITMs for financial institutions. Dolphin’s turnkey ATM service includes purchase and deployment of new ATMs, purchase of the financial institution’s existing ATMs, terminal driving, transaction processing, ATM maintenance, armored car service, communications, monitoring and dispatch, and cash management. Dolphin Debit operates all makes and models of ATM equipment in various branch and off-premise venues and works with 325 financial institutions across the United States. Combined with the strength of its global payments parent company, Euronet Worldwide, Dolphin is able to deliver technology and modernization through the company’s REN payments platform.