Frisco Bay to install, monitor ATMs

MONTREAL-Frisco Bay Industries has announced an initiative to install and monitor automatic teller equipment in 100 McDonald's restaurants across five Canadian provinces. The deal comes after a test trial in which Frisco Bay subsidiary Frisco/ATMS installed ATMs in 50 restaurants for McDonald's Restaurants of Canada Ltd. The remainder of the installations will take place by the end of this year. Barry Katsof, chairman and chief executive officer of Frisco Bay said the deal will bring the company's total number of installed ATMs to approximately 1,000. All of the machines are in Canada, and all are monitored through Frisco Bay's central station in Toronto. Katsof said his company derives about one-fourth of its $40 million bottom line from the ATM installations. Frisco Bay installs all the equipment itself and retains ownership of the machines, including maintenance and monitoring responsibilities. Its revenues are derived from a portion of the surcharge - between $1 and $2.50 - that are applied to each transaction and paid by the ATM users. "The key aspect of this is the recurring revenue," Katsof said, noting that agreements with the ATM locations typically involve a five-year commitment. Louie Mele, executive vice president of McDonald's Restaurants of Canada, noted that installing ATMs to the restaurants means more convenience for customers. The company owns and franchises more than 1,100 McDonald's restaurants throughout Canada.