OneCash and its parent company DSM Connect have gone into voluntary administration with administrators appointed on 4 June.
OneCash manages as many as 500 ATMs at locations throughout Australia, at petrol station sites including Caltex, BP, Mobil, and Shell as well as at various independent supermarkets.
The first meeting of the companies’ creditors is scheduled to be held in Brisbane on June 16.
OneCash installed ATMs free-of-charge in a business premises, managing them on a profit-share basis. ATM usage fees charged to customers were then split between OneCash and the business owner. Predicated revenues of up to $2000 a months were offered, depending on the location and foot traffic of their store.
Industry insiders have drawn comparisons with past ATM company failures such as the Aussie ATM / My ATM model and have reinforced the value of using a ATM Industry Association (ATMIA) endorsed provider.
Rumours of the imminent collapse of One Cash began to circulate in mid May, with rival ATM suppliers reporting they were “inundated with a number of their clients claiming to have not been receiving payments”.
Next Payments – a provider of retail ATMs, Cash X-Press, cash management terminals and integrated loyalty programs – has provided the following advice to affected parties: “We recommend that [affected parties] not sign anything [and] not feel pressured to sign anything and if unsure, we are more than happy to advise/assist as we have done so with previous similar instances. It may be an opportune time to remind members of the importance of using a reputable provider endorsed by your industry association or buying group.”
Next Payments is a partner of Macquarie Group and is backed by some of the biggest participants in the payments marketplace, something that General Manager – Sales & Marketing, Next Payments, Tyson Lester, says ensures the integrity of its products and services.
Mr Lester says that the collapse of One Cash/DSM has many potential implications. “Businesses may be left with a machine that stops operating, and with exclusive contracts being signed, it will be difficult to contract to another party for ATM services”, he said.
Mr Lester warns that operators may be approached by numerous parties asking for the contract to be assigned to them to get the machine up and running again. “Some of these approaches will be from opportunistic companies that have no affiliation with existing parties”, he said. “If another contract is signed with a different provider, this may breach existing obligations, or, refusal to accept a new ATM from the new company may result in penalties and so forth”.
Mr Lester warns that there many also be “approaches from people claiming to be the owner of the ATM… There may be numerous owners, there have been times in recent history where the same asset has been sold to multiple people”.