Driving cost savings at Customers

Ian Rogers
Customers Limited yesterday disclosed that it purchased the systems and software for the "drivers" of its ATM transactions from the firm's supplier Calypso. TNS Inc, a US-based payments processor, sold the operation that TNSI owned in Australia through its Canadian subsidiary.

Customers said it set up a separate company, Processing Services Australia, to acquire the Calypso assets. Customers foreshadowed the move in November 2009.

According to Customers owning the driver (which shepherds the transaction data towards the switch and in turn on to banks) will enable more functionality. It may also cut costs.

About three quarters of the switching for Customers' fleet of automatic teller machines are handled by Strategic Payments Services, a switch co-founded by Customers four years ago and in which it retains a minority holding.

TNS continues to own the payment processing business in Australia formerly known as Dialect, and acquired in 2007 from interests connected with News Corp.