How do I sell my ATM route?

Most of what is written about ATM routes is for people buying one. Selling is a different job. The buyer will want to see each terminal as its own small business, and they will want to know the machines can stay where they are. Prepare early, terminal by terminal, so you can answer when a buyer starts asking questions.

Gather records for each terminal

Pull the processor statements for every machine and keep them by location. Buyers use them to see how busy each site is and how steady it has been. Match them against your own books, so what a buyer sees in the statements lines up with your financial statements. If a terminal has been down, moved or replaced, write down when and why. A buyer would rather read that note than discover it.

Site agreements and host consent

Each location has an agreement or an understanding with the host. Collect every one and read what it says about assignment, renewal and ending early. Where consent is needed, ask your lawyer how and when to request it. Buyers will also want to know how long each host has worked with you. Our page on what an ATM route business is explains what buyers expect to find.

Cash loading, accounts and telling hosts

• Who loads the cash today, how often, and who funds it.
• Whether the buyer will use the same processor or sponsor, and what that provider needs to move or reopen accounts.
• Who services the machines, and whether that arrangement continues.
• When and how each host hears about the sale, ideally before the buyer calls.

A buyer weighing a purchase will read how to buy an existing ATM route and ask many of these same questions. Having answers ready shows you run an organized route.