The ATM sector is proving a hard one in which to make reliable margins as the uptake of Paypass and NFC payments curtails demand for cash.ATM withdrawals danced around the A$15 billion a month mark in the climax of the GFC. These days, $12 billion is a good number.At 58 million ATM withdrawals a month, volume is down 20 million since the GFC.DC Payments, a Canadian force in Australian banking, has resorted to fee increases to offset the profit lost from fewer ATM transactions. DC Payments, an offshoot of specialist ATM bank Direct Cash, has fared best in the ATM roll up strategy in Australia and is by no means done with the possibilities ahead of it.DC, moreover, is doing so with a bruising reputation for hard sales tactics and a readiness for a legal stoush.No matter has yet made it to judgment but there are scores or more of disputes flourishing, often over break fee arrangements.Pushing its already high user fees higher to $2.90, DC is a price setter in the ATM space. Their lead will clear the way for others congregating at $2.50 to follow.This will leave stale bank rack rates of a $2 fee for a wrong-bank ATM withdrawal at a level well below what the market appears to bear.DC summed up its experience in the country recently as "lower margin new and acquired business in Australia."The gross profit margin fell to 49.1 per cent from 52.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2014, DC wrote in its September 2015 quarter financials. "The decrease in gross profit margin was due to lower margin transactions generated from the acquired Eze and OneCash ATM fleet," DC said.Over the most recent quarter the gross profit margin of 49.1 per cent exceeded the June quarter by seven basis points."The improved gross profit margin demonstrates management's efforts in managing the ATM business in the Australasia," DC's management said on Friday.Tensions are also on show in DC's third quarter 2015 accounts; the third party ATM business model in Australia under question."The estimated useful lives of contracts for the Australian intangible assets acquired in July 2012 were reviewed by management in Q2 2015," DC said."The original assessment of the useful life at the time of acquisition was 75 months. Management reviewed the actual renewed terms of the acquired contracts and reassessed the useful life of the related intangible assets to be 64 months."DC said this lifted the amortisation expense by A$2.2 million from $5.0 million.In July 2015, DCPayments completed its acquisition of the ATM business of OneCash Limited and DSM Connect Pty Ltd in Australia "for total consideration of approximately A$1.9 million."In late 2014 it took hold of EzeATM, a lower yielding fleet.This added 250 ATM locations to a network now exceeding 7000  - around a quarter of the Australian cash machine fleet.ATM revenue in Australasia increased by six per cent "due to consumerdirect charge increases, which was implemented part way through Q2, as well as the addition of OneCash ATMs in July