The only thing that the network cannot currently provide is the ability to take deposits.

Another network feature that Stechow said credit unions in particular will find attractive is the pricing.

Select A Branch follows a similar pricing model to Cardtronics' Allpoint Network where ATM transactions are provided surcharge free to cardholders but the credit union pays for that transaction instead of the cardholder.

However, the two models differ because in Allpoint's model the surcharge fee is negotiated as a monthly charge based on a credit union's enrolled card base whereas Select A Branch charges a credit union on a per transaction basis. This approach makes Select A Branch particularly attractive to smaller credit unions that might wind up paying a hefty price for Allpoint on a per transaction basis; Select A Branch charges only for the transactions actually made.

However, Glenn Rambler, executive vice president with the $122 million Lebanon Federal Credit Union, one of the 10 CUs currently using the new network, stressed that Select A Branch's good attributes range far beyond a more affordable pricing model. Lebanon FCU has a community charter and roughly 21,000 members, roughly 14,000 of which have the CU's debit and ATM card.

Lebanon FCU has used Allpoint for about 18 months and Select A Branch since March of 2007, Rambler explained, extrapolating on how Select A Branch's technology made it an important part of the CU's ATM strategy even though Allpoint has more machines in the CUs immediate service area.

"It may not mean a lot from the point of a CU member, but I can say from the point of the credit union it is very important that we keep up the contact and familiarity with our members at the ATMs, even those network ATMs which are surcharge free," Rambler explained. "I don't want our members bumping up against another financial institution and I want to keep up the familiarity and contact with our members in all their financial transactions."

Currently at least 10 credit unions and several banks, including two large regional banks, have a relationship with Select A Branch. One of the ten CUs, the $92 million Actors Federal Credit Union, also leases its ATMs to Select A Branch in addition to having its own relationship with the deplorer. It is the relationship with Actors Federal which gives Select A Branch its presence in Manhattan, where the CU's ATMs have become a fixture, placed in many of the island's McDonalds fast food restaurants.

Many of Select A Branch's other ATMs are deployed along the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a placement that makes the firm especially good for Lebanon, Rambler said. "Everyone who travels across the state uses the turnpike," Rambler said. "It's the gateway to Philly, Pittsburgh, it's a major transportation method for our members, and it's great that along the way they essentially have all our own ATMs at cost which is a mere fraction of what it would cost us to deploy and maintain the machines ourselves."

Stechow contended that Select A Branch has not been placing ATMs in new locations but winning the contracts to service existing locations from more expensive financial institutions. He said the firm's possession of a subscribed card base, as opposed to only appealing to the public at large helps strengthen Select A Branch. He alluded as well to several "big deals" that he said he could not discuss because the contracts have not yet been finalized but which the company expects to see in the first quarter of 2008.

If Select A Branch continues to grow and expand its footprint, it very well may offer CUs still another way they can further tailor their ATM strategy, and one that will probably include participation in overlapping networks. "If giving our members surcharge free access to ATMs where and when they need it means that we have to participate in four or five networks, then that's what we will do," Rambler said. "Select a Branch just makes it easier and more affordable," he added.

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