Ahead Financials and Cardtronics Partner to Provide Surcharge-Free ATM Access to Banking Customers Nationwide

OAKLAND, Calif. and HOUSTON, April 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ahead Financials (“Ahead”), a digital banking and financial health platform and subsidiary of LendUp Global, and Cardtronics, a leader in financial self-service, today announced a partnership to provide Ahead Visa® Debit Card customers with surcharge-free cash access through Cardtronics’ Allpoint Network of ATMs.

Ahead was introduced earlier this year to further LendUp’s decade-long social mission to create a path to better financial health for America’s emerging middle class and others who do not typically have fully inclusive access to traditional financial institutions. Ahead provides a digital banking app, deposit account, debit card, early access to payroll direct deposit, no-fee overdraft protection, financial health tools, and more, with no monthly service fees. With today’s announcement, Ahead Visa® Debit Cardholders will now have convenient access to surcharge-free cash at over 40,000 Cardtronics Allpoint ATMs in the U.S. and 55,000 worldwide. Through the world’s largest retail-based surcharge-free ATM network, consumers can find Allpoint ATMs in top retail establishments such as grocery and convenience stores, pharmacies, and big-box stores.

“Partnering with Cardtronics underscores Ahead’s commitment to helping consumers build their financial resilience and confidence with fee-free access to their hard-earned money in the digital—and now also the retail—locations that are most convenient to them,” said Anu Shultes, CEO of LendUp Global and Ahead Financials. “Access to cash is well-founded as one of the most powerful tools for preserving money and managing personal finances. Too many of our customers have been denied this most basic financial right. We are committed to a mission to forever change and end this paradigm with Ahead. This will be our first move of many to take accountability for furthering equality in financial access and begin to repair, restore and rebuild our customers' relationship with America’s financial system.”

“We are incredibly proud to work with Ahead to help provide their members with convenient and fee-free access to their cash, which is important to Ahead’s vision of providing easy, convenient, and trusted financial services. With this partnership, Ahead will be adding another layer of convenience and scale, and we are pleased to be part of providing that access,” said Carter Hunt, Managing Director of North America for Cardtronics.

About Cardtronics (NASDAQ: CATM)
Cardtronics is the trusted leader in financial self-service, enabling cash transactions at over 285,000 ATMs across 10 countries in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Africa. With our scale, expertise, and innovation, top-tier merchants and businesses of all sizes use our ATM solutions to drive growth, in-store traffic, and retail transactions. Financial services providers rely on Cardtronics to deliver superior service at their own ATMs, on Cardtronics ATMs where they place their brand, and through Cardtronics' Allpoint Network, the world’s largest retail-based surcharge-free ATM network, with over 55,000 locations. As champions of cash, Cardtronics converts digital currency into physical cash, driving payments choice for businesses and consumers alike. Learn more about Cardtronics by visiting www.cardtronics.com and by following us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Ahead Financials
Ahead Financials, a digital banking and financial health platform for America’s emerging middle class, is a subsidiary of LendUp Global, the company that pioneered gamified financial education and alternative credit scoring to help the more than 150 million Americans rebuilding their credit get on a path to better financial health through access to financial education and responsible credit solutions. Ahead aims to ensure no one is excluded from the cornerstones of financial wellbeing: the ability to plan, save, spend, borrow and learn good financial habits. To learn more and sign-up at, visit www.aheadmoney.com, and follow us on Instagram @Ahead_Money and Twitter @Ahead_Money.

Cardtronics is a registered trademark of Cardtronics plc and its subsidiaries.
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