Allpoint Signs CUs in Tennessee, Texas

BETHESDA, Md. – Two more credit unions, one in Tennessee and one in Texas, have joined the Allpoint Network, the network has announced. Allpoint is the nationwide ATM network which provides ATM access surcharge-free to cardholders of participating institutions. In exchange the credit union pays a flat fee to Allpoint based on the size of its enrolled card base. The two are the $775 million ORNL FCU, headquartered at Oak Ridge, Tennessee and the $700 million JSC Federal Credit Union, the largest CU in Houston and the eleventh largest in Texas. Both CUs cited increased competitive ability as one reason to go with Allpoint: “Fee-free access to ATMs is a critical competitive issue,” said Larry A. Jones, vice president of marketing and eServices for ORNL. “Allpoint allows ORNL Federal Credit Union to provide members with no-cost access to their money at dozens of local locations and thousands of locations from coast to coast. It really gives us a strong selling point for our debit card.” “While the majority of our members live in the Clear Lake – Galveston Area where the credit union maintains its own network of ATMs, we do have a substantial number of members who live across town or even in other cities or states who need a convenient, low cost way to access their funds”, says J Stephen Branstetter, executive vice president of JSC FCU. “Now we can compete with the national bank chains,” he added. Joining Allpoint will allow ORNL to offer its members 475 ATMs across the state, more than two other large deployers, Bank of America and Wachovia, combined, the network said. JSC joining means that credit unions can offer fee-free access to at least 2,500 ATMs across the state, with more than 875 in the Houston area alone.