Euronet Worldwide Acquires Dolphin Debit

Payments technology company Euronet Worldwide has acquired Dolphin Debit, a Houston-based company that services ATMs for credit unions and other financial institutions.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the combination adds Dolphin Debit’s portfolio of more than 1,900 ATMs serviced for about 300 banks and credit unions to Euronet Worldwide’s existing cache of 26,000 ATMs serviced, according to an announcement about the deal. Euronet Worldwide also does pass-through processing on 136,000 ATMs.

“We have been aware of Euronet’s position as a leader in the global ATM market for some time, so this is an exciting opportunity for us to be able to contribute to the company’s overall strategic vision,” Dolphin Debit CEO Gary Walston said. “Euronet’s vast resources and superior technology were important factors in our decision to find the right partner to further grow our existing business while enabling us to continue to provide exceptional service and new innovations for our current customers.”

Walston will remain CEO of Dolphin Debit, which will become a Euronet Worldwide subsidiary.

In the announcement about the deal, the companies also noted that the acquisition could bring more processing expertise to customers, as well as more economies of scale. The company estimated that the servicing on only 6% of bank and credit union ATMs is outsourced, leaving a large market opportunity, it said.

“ATM outsourcing in the United States historically has been limited to cash dispense and deposit transactions without any advanced processing services available,” Euronet Worldwide Chairman and CEO Michael J. Brown said. “Euronet can now offer more to these customers with our technical abilities to process any transaction – digital or cash – worldwide. These are the services banks in the U.S. are increasingly being asked for by mobile-savvy customers and we will be in an excellent position to elevate the technical profile and product portfolio of any bank through our outsourcing services with Dolphin.”

Dolphin Debit made one of its own acquisitions a short time ago.

In June 2019 it finalized its purchase of the Cypress, Texas-based Outsource ATM, which primarily serves credit unions and banks in Texas and Louisiana. The deal added 65 financial institutions to the company’s list of clients.

Earlier in 2019, the company also announced a strategic partnership with the Credit Union League of Connecticut, which Walston said would help the company further expand in the Northeast, and it renewed its agreement to be a “strategic service partner” with the Mississippi Credit Union Association.

This latest acquisition comes at a very tumultuous time for the ATM business, which is facing controversies about the “cleanliness” of cash, rolling out efforts to keep ATMs clean, and facing sudden increases in use after federal stimulus checks began hitting consumer bank accounts in recent weeks.

Recent data from the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based CUSO PSCU found that ATM withdrawals shot up 18.1% in just one week of April, and ATM balance inquiries spiked 8.9% compared to the same week of 2019. Many members were checking their accounts to see if their stimulus checks had been deposited, PSCU said.