Thursday, May 1, 2008

An Open Letter to ATMDirect Executives

With less than 13 days remaining, we still have yet to hear from ATMDirect even though our CEO, Kenneth Mages, has made them aware of it from the beginning. However, in the interest of complete and unbiased fairness, this morning I sent them the following. Word on the street is that they have no intention of participating in the PIN-OFF, but let's give them every opportunity I say.

An Open Letter to ATMDirect Executives

Mr. Nandon Sheth - President - ATMDirect
Mr. Tom Wilkerson - Vice-President Business Development -ATMDirect
cc: Ms. Danielle Duclos - Director of Marketing - ATMDirect

As you are surely aware, from daily emails sent by Kenneth Mages, HomeATM's CEO to your President, Nandon Sheth, as well as various coverage in both the blogs and the newswires, we have challenged ATMDirect to compare technologies.

I was a founding member of the former ATMDirect owner, Solidus Networks, and was the author and Editor of the "Pay By Touch Blog" since 2005 until it's final post on March 20th. I am a firm believer and staunch supporter of bringing PIN Debit to the Web (in fact, query ATMDirect on the Pay By Touch Blog and you'll see myriad posts praising the potential of Internet PIN Debit. As such, I personally inquired about acquiring ATMDirect.

However, after reviewing the materials sent to me by Ron Carter, and speaking with several "insiders" including Eric Bachman, (who, by the way speaks highly of Tom Wilkerson) former COO of PBT, I decided that there was much that remained to be done before it could be considered anything more than an "early stage startup" to quote Eula Adams. So I passed and instead, I've joined forces with HomeATM, whose technology I felt could stand up to the demands that are required for PIN Debit to work on the Internet.

I saw ATMDirect's recent Press Release claiming the purchase of Pay By Touch's "25 Global Patents". Frankly, from the materials that were sent to me during my acquisition inquiry, I know only of one. However, that is not the point of this communication. Our patent attorney, Donald E. Stout, has sent a letter to your president regarding our patent. The point of this e-mail is to invite ATMDirect to what we've called a "PIN-OFF".

Upon reading your press release and hearing the patent claims you're making, we would like to "call you" on these claims as well as the one made that you intend to "Own PIN Debit on the Internet". If, in fact, you feel that ATMDirect's technology can stand up to the scrutiny of an independent "Internet PIN Debit Payment Panel" we would welcome ATMDirect's participation by accepting our invitation. We have extended the courtesy of allowing you 30 days to respond.

I've sent out "Internet PIN Debit Payment Panel" participant invitations to Paul Green, "The GreenSheet", John Stewart, "Digital Transaction News" Scott Loftesness, Payment News, Gwen Bezard, Aite Research Group, Avivah Litan, Garnter Research, Bruce Cundiff, Javelin Strategy & Research, David Brietkopf at SourceMedia and Evan Shuman, the former retail technology editor for eWEEK.com, PCMagazine, and CIOInsight, who are now all aware of HomeATM's PIN-Off Challenge to ATMDirect. We are all awaiting your acceptance/non-acceptance to this Internet PIN Debit challenge.

Please advise as to whether you plan on accepting, or forfeiting this opportunity to "showcase your technology". I'll await your response, along with other industry insiders who are "privy" to our so-called "PIN-OFF." My contact information is below...


John B. Frank
Executive Advisor
HomeATM e-Payment Solutions
Phone: 480-816-9578
Cell: 612-432-6980
JFrank@HomeATM.net
www.PINdebit.blogspot.com


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