Discovercardholders have surcharge-free access to Allpoint-brandedATMs because Discover wants to enhance its new checking accountprogram, according to a company spokesman.

Meanwhile, two major ATM and payments CUSOs said they canwithstand the new competition.

Discover Financial Services launched Discover Bank in 2000 whenit changed the name of the Greenwood Trust Co., a bank it acquiredin 1985, to Discover Bank.

The bank holds the deposits to Discover's savings and CDaccounts as well as the Cashback Checking product which the companybegan offering on a limited basis in February 2013 and plans toroll out broadly in 2014, according to the firm.

Discover offers FDIC insurance for its savings, CD and checkingproducts.

Cashback Checking depositors earn 10 cents for every debit cardtransaction, bill paid electronically or check they write.

Adding the 43,000 Allpoint ATMs in the U.S. to the existing900,000 PULSE branded ATMs will mean that Cashback Checkingaccount holders will have surcharge-free access to 133,000 ATMs,many in convenience stores, supermarkets and other convenientretailers.

CO-OP Financial Services, the CUSO which offers surcharge-freeATM access through its CO-OP ATM program declined to commentdirectly on the move, but Caroline Willard executive vicepresident for markets and strategy for CO-OP, noted that many CO-OPATMs still take deposits which no Allpoint ATMs do, preserving acompetitive difference for the CUSO.

But a spokesman for Discover observed that the Discover checkingdepositors have access to their accounts through a mobile phone appthat permits deposits to be made remotely, erasing the need formaking deposits through any ATM.

CU 24, the other nationwide ATM and POS CUSO, had a similartake to CO-OP's.

“CU24 does not anticipate any significant market impact in thecredit union community,” wrote a company spokesman in an email.“Through CU24, credit unions can gain access to that same Allpointnetwork along with approximately 25,000 additional surcharge-freeATMs, no matter which card brand they issue.”