{"id":84692,"date":"2017-09-22T10:06:50","date_gmt":"2017-09-22T10:06:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=dcc152a44fcfac35e781483e705a30cf"},"modified":"2017-09-22T10:06:50","modified_gmt":"2017-09-22T10:06:50","slug":"press-release-cma-clears-cardtronics-and-directcash-payments-merger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=84692","title":{"rendered":"Press release: CMA clears Cardtronics and DirectCash Payments merger"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Both companies supply pay-to-use and free-to-use cashpoints (ATMs<\/abbr>) at sites across the UK.<\/p>\n

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA<\/abbr>) began investigating the merger in January, referring it for a phase 2 inquiry by an independent group of panel members in May.<\/p>\n

This group considered whether the merger would reduce competition and result in higher surcharges at pay-to-use cashpoints.<\/p>\n

In their final report<\/a>, published today, the inquiry group found that the presence of free-to-use ATMs<\/abbr>, and the availability of alternative non-cash payment methods, are likely to constrain such surcharges at pay-to-use machines.<\/p>\n

The group also found that contracts and relationships with the owners of sites at which ATMs<\/abbr> are installed would limit the merged company\u2019s incentives to increase surcharges.<\/p>\n

There was also evidence that ATM<\/abbr> surcharges are not set according to local competition and that the merger would be unlikely to change this.<\/p>\n

Alasdair Smith, CMA<\/abbr> Inquiry Chair, said:<\/p>\n

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We\u2019ve looked carefully at the scope for the merger to result in cashpoint users paying higher charges at pay-to-use ATMs<\/abbr>. As part of our in-depth inquiry, we surveyed consumers and spoke to the owners of a wide range of premises at which these machines are installed.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve found that the merger does not provide the merged company with an incentive to increase surcharges for people using pay-to-use ATMs<\/abbr>, not least because of the increasing use of non-cash payment methods and the decline in the use of pay-to-use ATMs<\/abbr> relative to free-to-use ATMs<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The final report has been published on the case page<\/a>, where all other information relating to the inquiry is available.<\/p>\n

Notes for editors<\/h4>\n
    \n
  1. The CMA<\/abbr> is the UK\u2019s primary competition and consumer authority. It is an independent non-ministerial government department with responsibility for carrying out investigations into mergers, markets and the regulated industries and enforcing competition and consumer law.<\/li>\n
  2. The CMA<\/abbr> referred the case for in-depth investigation on 15 May 2017. The group published its provisional findings report on 25 August 2017.<\/li>\n
  3. The members of the inquiry group are: Alasdair Smith<\/a> (Chair), Rosalind Hedley-Miller<\/a> and Gavin Robert<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  4. All the CMA<\/abbr>\u2019s functions in phase 2 merger inquiries are performed by independent inquiry groups chosen from the CMA<\/abbr>\u2019s panel members. The appointed inquiry group are the decision-makers on phase 2 inquiries.<\/li>\n
  5. The CMA<\/abbr>\u2019s panel members come from a variety of backgrounds, including economics, law, accountancy and business; the membership of an inquiry group usually reflects a mix of expertise and experience.<\/li>\n
  6. For more information on the CMA<\/abbr> see our homepage or follow us on Twitter @CMAgovuk<\/a>, Flickr<\/a> and LinkedIn<\/a> and like our Facebook page<\/a>. Sign up to our email alerts<\/a> to receive updates on mergers cases.<\/li>\n
  7. Media enquiries should be directed to press@cma.gsi.gov.uk<\/a> or 020 3738 6798.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The CMA has cleared the acquisition by Cardtronics of rival ATM provider DirectCash Payments, following an in-depth investigation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84692"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=84692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84692\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}