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E*Trade buys ATM network
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March 14, 2000: 3:41 p.m. ET
Acquisition of Card Capture Services gives investment firm a physical presence
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - E*Trade Group Inc., the popular online stock-trading service, has agreed to acquire the largest independent network of automated teller machines in the United States.
The Menlo Park, Calif.-based online investment service said acquiring Card Capture Services Inc.'s 8,500 machines worldwide will give the company a physical presence, and would propel it into the mainstream banking market.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
E*Trade hopes providing a physical presence will ease customer fears about banking online, where most transactions occur electronically without the involvement of a bricks-and-mortar site.
"What consumers want is a physical presence, and typically it's just to deposit their checks," said Scott Appleby, an analyst with Robertson Stephens. "What we have found in our own research is that consumers like online banking, but they just don't like mailing checks."
Based in Portland, Ore., Card Capture Services employs more than 150 people and reported gross revenue of $72 million last year. Its independent ATM's are located in Rite Aid drug stores, Safeway supermarkets, hotels, shopping malls, convenience stores and Chevron gas stations and generate more than 3.1 million transactions per month.
The news comes just months after E*Trade bought Telebank, one of the largest Internet-only banks with $3 billion in deposits.
E*Trade plans to create a network of financial services kiosks where customers could access and learn about the company's various financial services, officials said.
"This acquisition supports E*Trade's mission of democratizing financial services by giving consumers even more opportunities and choices to benefit from the value and convenience of online banking and investing," said Christos Cotsakos, E*Trade's chairman and chief executive officer.
The deal had no apparent effect on shares of E*Trade (EGRP: Research, Estimates), which remained unchanged on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange Tuesday at 25-3/4. 
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E*Trade
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