Publication of AMBER Alerts on Euronet Worldwide’s ATMs Leads to Hundreds of Phone Calls and Location of Eight Missing People in 2020
Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ: EEFT) reported that its ATM screens helped locate eight missing persons in 2020 through active alerts. This initiative, in collaboration with AMBER Alert Europe, began in the Netherlands and expanded to four European countries, notably Spain, where 87 alerts generated 458 calls to authorities. The program sparked significant public interest, leading to over 100 million interactions across media platforms. Euronet aims to extend this collaboration further, enhancing community support through its extensive ATM network.
- Eight missing persons located due to ATM screen alerts in 2020.
- Collaboration with AMBER Alert Europe successfully expanded to four countries.
- 87 alerts published in Spain led to 458 calls identifying missing individuals.
- Over 100 million media interactions highlighting the search for missing persons.
- None.
LEAWOOD, Kan., Feb. 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ: EEFT), a leading global financial technology solutions and payments provider, announced today that the publication of active alerts on its ATM screens resulted in the location of eight missing people during 2020.
This use of Euronet’s ATM screens, which are potentially viewed by millions of users and passers-by across Europe each day, is part of Euronet’s initiative to provide support to its local communities through services and philanthropic efforts.
Euronet started the initiative with AMBER Alert Europe during 2019 in the Netherlands and that led to a pan-European agreement just a few months after the program launched. From that successful start, Euronet now has agreements with national organizations in four European countries for the display of active missing person alerts on its ATM screens, and more countries are expected to be added in the coming months.
As a result of the company’s partnership with SOSDesaparecidos, the Ministry of Interior, and the National Police, alerts in Spain were by far the most frequent and impactful in 2020 of any country, including:
- 87 alerts, selected and approved by the Spanish National Police, were published on Euronet ATMs in Spain.
- A total of 458 phone calls were received by the National Police and SOSDesaparecidos from people who identified the disappeared after having seen their photos on the ATM screens.
- As a result of these calls, eight people were located.
Apart from the primary importance of helping find missing people, additional results of the program include:
- A spike in the interest in the search for missing persons, leading to more than 100 million interactions on social networks, in the press, on radio and on television.
- Additional national police organizations in Europe and the Americas have expressed interest in extending this cooperation with Euronet to their territories.
“We are extremely pleased that this initiative has such a positive impact on society,” said Nikos Fountas, EVP & CEO, EFT Americas and EMEA, at Euronet Worldwide. “The successful location of several persons made possible by the publication of active alerts on our ATM screens proves the ATM is a vital feature of our communities and serves them in multiple ways.”
About Euronet Worldwide, Inc.
Euronet Worldwide is an industry leader in processing secure electronic financial transactions. The Company offers payment and transaction processing solutions to financial institutions, retailers, service providers and individual consumers. These services include comprehensive ATM, POS and card outsourcing services, card issuing and merchant acquiring services, software solutions, cash-based and online-initiated consumer-to-consumer and business-to-business money transfer services, and electronic distribution of digital media and prepaid mobile phone time.
Euronet's global payment network is extensive - including 43,956 ATMs, approximately 324,000 EFT POS terminals and a growing portfolio of outsourced debit and credit card services which are under management in 61 countries; card software solutions; a prepaid processing network of approximately 717,000 POS terminals at approximately 328,000 retailer locations in 55 countries; and a global money transfer network of approximately 447,000 locations serving 159 countries. With corporate headquarters in Leawood, Kansas, USA, and 66 worldwide offices, Euronet serves clients in approximately 175 countries. For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.euronetworldwide.com.
