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Coinstar, Inc.
Type
Public
Traded as
NASDAQ: CSTR
Industry
Calculating & Accounting Machines, Except Computer
Founded
Bellevue, Washington United States (February 1991 (1991-02))
Founder(s)
Jens Molbak
Dan Gerrity
Headquarters
Bellevue, WA, USA
Area served
North America & Europe
Key people
Paul Davis (CEO)
Gregg Kaplan (President and COO)
Services
Coin Services, Entertainment Services, E-Payment Services, Self-Service DVD Kiosks
Revenue
US$ 1.85 billion (2011)
Operating income
US$ 209 million (2011)
Net income
US$ 104 million (2011)
Total assets
US$ 1.48 billion (2011)
Total equity
US$ 531 million (2011)
Employees
1,800 (2008)
Subsidiaries
Redbox
Website
www.coinstar.com
Coinstar, Inc. is an American company with a network of movie and game rental kiosks as well as coin cashing machines. The firm's original focus was the conversion of loose change into paper currency, donations or gift cards via coin counter kiosks. Coinstar deducts a fee for conversion of coins to banknotes and charitable donations, but not for gift cards. The company also owns the Redbox DVD rental service.
Coinstar's kiosks are in the front of stores (between the cash registers and the exit/entrance). Coinstar has more than 60,000 kiosks including a variety of services in the US, UK, Ireland, Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico.
Coinstar also produces machines that provide prepaid credit cards, cellular phone cards, tickets to concerts ands, and e-payment kiosks. It is also developing kiosks for pharmaceutical dispensing.
Contents
- 1 History
- 2 Coinstar kiosks
- 3 Competition
- 4 Publicity
- 5 References
- 6 External links
History
The company was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington.
As Coinstar began rolling out units in the mid 1990s, the US Mint and Federal Reserve were heavily impacted by the return of coins into the economy. Coinstar, the Mint, and Federal Reserve started coordinating rollouts, and adjusted production rates of coins accordingly. Coinstar cooperated with the US Mint in the introduction of the Golden Dollar at the beginning of the millennium and encouraged people to use coins rather than notes.
In February 2009, Coinstar purchased all remaining shares of DVD rental kiosk company Redbox for $175 million from McDonald's Corporation, making Coinstar the sole owner. Prior to this, Coinstar and McDonald's each owned 47% of Redbox shares with various other parties owning the remaining 6%.
Coinstar kiosks
The typical Coinstar coin cashing kiosk is green and the size of a large vending machine. They are located at grocery stores, drug stores, larger merchants, banks or other retail locations. The coin counting service is available in the US (including Puerto Rico), Canada, Ireland and the UK.
To process coins, loose change is poured into the machine. In the United States, the machine accepts all denominations of coins from one-cent coins to one-dollar coins, its only restriction being 1943 steel cents and Eisenhower Dollars. When the machine finishes counting coins it issues a scrip, called a voucher, which the user can redeem at the place of business providing the coin counting service at face value for currency. The same mode of operation and redemption is provided on those Coinstar machines situated in Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, and Puerto Rico.
Coinstar logo used until March 2011; now used exclusively for Coinstar, Inc
The coin counting processing fee, deducted from the total once coins have been counted, is 9.8% in the USA, 11.9% in Canada, 9.9% in Ireland and 8.9% in the UK. Some machines may offer a lower rate; in this case the store hosting the machine has subsidised the rate.
A newer service enables users to use their coins to buy a gift card from merchants without the usual fee ("no fee") — including such retailers as Starbucks, Amazon.com, Banana Republic, Gap, Regal Entertainment Group, Old Navy, iTunes, J.C. Penney, CVS Pharmacy and Overstock.com. Select grocery retailers, including SuperValu and Stop & Shop are also participating in the "no fee" offers. If the user chooses the fee-free option, the machine issues a plastic gift card or, in the case of online merchants like Amazon.com, a voucher with a redemption code.
US and UK users also have the option of donating their change to a selected charity. By 2006, Coinstar has raised more than $20 million for charities including the American Red Cross Disaster Relief fund, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and UNICEF's Trick or Treat program.
Coinstar has processed more than 350 billion coins in its nearly two decades of operation, with an average transaction amount of about $38. The largest single transaction was $13,000 in pennies from a man in Alabama.
Additional services
Many Coinstar machines in the US also sell prepaid products such as Green-Dot preloaded MasterCard, prepaid wireless airtime from major carriers and long distance cards. In the UK, gift cards are not available but phone cards are, including Virgin, Tesco Mobile, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone, Swiftcall and United.
Coinstar has become a multi-national provider of services for the front end of retail stores. Services provided include coin counting, bulk vending, prepaid products (gift cards), money transfer and automated DVD rentals (via Redbox). In September 2009, Coinstar sold its entertainment business, which included skill cranes and bulk vending, to National Entertainment Network.
Coinstar will also be coming out with additional services, including the ability to deposit coins directly into a personal bank account. A specific time frame for availability of this service has not been announced.
Competition
In some sections of the U.S., regional banks have begun offering free coin-counting services in the amount of a gift card. Refunds are often given in cash rather than in the form of a gift card. In some cases, it is not even necessary for the customer to have an account at the bank; the free service is offered as a way to attract new business from individuals who are not current account holders. TD Bank's "Penny Arcade" coin counters were free and available to both customers and non-customers in many branches, but as of November 2010, the bank charges a 6% fee for non-customers to use the machine. Netflix is also considered a competitor with Coinstar's Redbox movie service.
Publicity
To generate publicity, Coinstar offered to cash in over 1.3 million pennies collected over four decades by Flomaton, Alabama resident Edmond Knowles after Knowles's bank refused to cash them in. The armored truck sent by Coinstar to Knowles's home sank into the mud in his yard after being loaded with the 4.5-ton collection, and needed to be rescued by a tow truck.
March 25, 2008 The nephew of Walt Disney, Roy Disney, uses his Shamrock Activist Value Fund of Burbank to ask for regulatory changes in Coinstar governance.
March 14, 2008 a Coinstar employee was arrested for stealing $441,000 from Coinstar machines in Washington, Oregon and California. The employee was accused of illegally accessing the Coinstar machine's cash boxes ahead of armored car pickups.
May 9, 2006 Coinstar sues rival Coin X change over patent dispute around the use of voucher-issuing machines, remote reporting of the coin machines' status and anti-counterfeiting technology for printed vouchers.
References
- ^ "All Business interviews Coinstar founder". Retrieved 2009-12-09.
- ^ "US SEC Form 10-K". Retrieved 2012-02-11.
- ^ http://hoovers.com/company/Coinstar_Inc/hykfhi-1.html
- ^ "Penny Shortages in Mid-Atlantic States". 1994-06-04. Retrieved 2012-02-11.
- ^ "U.S. Mint Announces Program To Encourage Citizens To Re-circulate Coins". 2000-03-15. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
- ^ "Finance | paidContent". Finance.paidcontent.org. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
- ^ "Supervalu, Coinstar Ink New Agreement". Retrieved 2011-05-11.
- ^ "Transforming coins into donations using technology". Retrieved 2011-05-11.
- ^ Coin Operated. Modern Marvels. The History Channel.
- ^ "National Entertainment Network Acquires Coinstar's Entertainment Division". Retrieved 2011-05-11.
- ^ http://www.coinstar.com/us/WebDocs/A1-0-3-1
- ^ Blumenthal, Jeff (2010-11-18). "TD Bank drops free coin counting for noncustomers".
- ^ Donn, Jeff (2006-07-07). "Do Pennies Still Make Sense?". In The Loop (Washington Post). Retrieved 2007-10-28.
- ^ Investment Fund seeks Coinstar changes. Seattle Times - March 25, 2008
- ^ "Coinstar proxy contest resolved." Seattle Times - May 29, 2008
- ^ "Coinstar thefts were inside job, court documents show." Seattle Times - May 14, 2008
- ^ "Coinstar files patent lawsuit against Coin X Change." Seattle Times - May 9, 2006
External links
- Coinstar website for the United States (in green)
- Redbox website for the United States (in red)
- Coinstar website for the United Kingdom (in blue)
- StartupStudio In depth interview with Jens Molbak covering the story of how Coinstar began, recommendations for entrepreneurs, childhood experiences that helped Jens succeed, etc. Copy of StartupStudio podcast at AllBusiness
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Coinstar&oldid=555280472"
Categories:
- Companies based in Bellevue, Washington
- Companies established in 1991
- Vending
Hidden categories:
- All articles with unsourced statements
- Articles with unsourced statements from January 2013
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