Alliance One is one of the nation’s leading selective-surcharge ATM groups, and a powerful tool that can strengthen a financial institution’s ATM program while also promoting the cooperative spirit of the credit union movement. Founded in 1998 by Corporate One Federal Credit Union, Alliance One was created to assist six central Ohio credit unions with accessing a larger network of ATMs. As the popularity of the program spread, credit unions across Ohio and the Midwest joined quickly within its first years of operation. Since then, Alliance One has grown from these local roots to include more than 4,900 ATMs at nearly 1,000 financial institutions in 43 states.
Alliance One is a powerful group, grounded in the cooperative spirit of the credit union movement. Participants in Alliance One grant surcharge-free access to other members, and monthly BIN updates are sent out to ensure current, accurate data is being used. As a result, credit union and financial institution participants nationwide are able to offer their members access to surcharge-free ATMs. And, with the elimination of foreign ATMs fees, participant cardholders are able to keep more of their own money where it belongs—in their own pockets, while also having the convenience of nationwide ATM access.
Credit unions and smaller community financial institutions have typically joined as individual members; however, the program has increasingly attracted groups of institutions, such as state credit union leagues. Alliance One also has engaged several key strategic partners, including Sheetz convenience stores and ACS. These partnerships have added more than 360 ATMs to Alliance One, and engaged more than one million users of state- and federal-issued payments and benefits, such as those receiving child support, unemployment and social security, to use Alliance One ATMs, from which Alliance One participants gain interchange income.