Mercator Advisory Group and ATM Industry Association (ATMIA) Announce Joint Research Agreement

June 15, 2012 - PRLog -- Boston, MA - Mercator Advisory Group and the ATM Industry Association (ATMIA) have announced a joint research cooperation agreement. As a result of the agreement Mercator Advisory Group will be ATMIA's North American Research Partner - collaborating with ATMIA on conferences, webinars, workshops, and coordinated industry research in the banking and financial institutions space.

Included in this agreement will be presentations on converging channels and the role of the ATM at ATMIA's annual February conference and quarterly Global Bank Council webinars.

"We are pleased to enter into this collaboration with ATMIA," Ed O'Brien, director of Mercator Advisory Group's Banking Channels Advisory Service, commented. "With Mercator's rich research heritage and focus on banking channels (most notably ATMs) and ATMIA's industry knowledge and global reach, we feel that there are great synergies between the organizations. In addition to sharing mutual goals, this agreement provides significant opportunities to provide insight into best practices and key trends experienced and expected in the ATM industry."

Mike Lee, chief executive officer of the ATMIA, noted that the ATMIA membership will benefit by the partnership as well. "Today's financial climate is evolving quickly. Those lacking insights and education on the latest and most relevant trends stand to miss out on many opportunities and risk being left behind by the pace of change. Our collaboration with a distinguished research consultancy like Mercator Advisory Group will enable our membership to gain a strategic advantage via access to high caliber research findings and best practices, while sharing our knowledge and trending, in turn, with them."

The first phase of the partnership is already in progress with Mercator Advisory Group contributing to Global Bank Council content, and plans are under way for Mercator Advisory Group to present on future ATM technology enhancements at ATMIA's 2013 U.S. annual conference scheduled for February 19-21 in Scottsdale, AZ. In addition, O'Brien's next research report will be the first annual Mercator Advisory Group benchmark study on the global ATM market.

For additional information on the ATM Industry Association please visit www.atmia.com, and for more on Mercator Advisory Group, visit www.mercatoradvisorygroup.com.

About Mercator Advisory Group

Mercator Advisory Group is the leading, independent research and advisory services firm exclusively focused on the payments and banking industries. We deliver pragmatic and timely research and advice designed to help our clients uncover the most lucrative opportunities to maximize revenue growth and contain costs. Our clients range from the world's largest payment issuers, acquirers, processors, merchants and associations to leading technology providers and investors. Mercator Advisory Group is also publisher of the online payments and bank channel news and information portal PaymentsJournal.com.

About the ATM Industry Association (ATMIA)

The ATM Industry Association, founded in 1997, is a global non-profit trade association with around 2,600 members in 60 countries. The organization's mission is to promote ATM convenience, growth and usage worldwide, to protect the ATM industry's assets, interests, good name and public trust; and to provide education, best practices, political voice and networking opportunities for member organizations. The membership base covers the full range of this worldwide industry comprising over 2.1 million installed ATMs. ATMIA has chapters around the world in the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

For more information and media inquiries, please call Mercator Advisory Group at (781) 419-1700 or send an email to info@mercatoradvisorygroup.com.