type public traded as nasdaq outr industry entertainment dvd rental coin counting machines mobile product recycling founded february 1991 ; 25 years ago 1991 02 as coinstar inc. bellevue washington u.s. founder jens molbak dan gerrity 1 headquarters bellevue washington u.s. area served north america & europe key people erik e. prusch ceo services redbox dvd kiosks coin counting services mobile device recycling e payment services revenue us 1.85 billion 2011 2 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 number of employees 1 800 2008 3 subsidiaries redbox coinstar ecoatm gazelle website www.outerwall.com outerwall inc. formerly coinstar inc. is an american company with a network of movie and video game rental kiosks as well as coin cashing machines . the firm s original focus was the conversion of loose change into paper currency donations and gift cards via coin counter kiosks . outerwall operates coinstar machines which deduct a fee for conversion of coins to banknotes and coinstar exchange for gift cards . the company also owns the redbox dvd rental service . outerwall s kiosks are in the front of stores between the cash registers and the exit entrance . outerwall has more than 60 000 kiosks including a variety of services in the us uk ireland canada puerto rico and mexico . outerwall also produces machines that provide prepaid credit cards cellular phone cards tickets to concerts and e payment kiosks . it is also developing kiosks for pharmaceutical dispensing . on july 2 2013 outerwall started trading on the nasdaq as outr changing its name from coinstar . 4 contents 1 history 2 coinstar kiosks 2.1 additional services 3 competition 4 publicity 5 name change 6 references 7 external links history edit the company was founded in 1991 as coinstar inc. and is headquartered in bellevue washington . outerwall 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 . 5 in february 2009 coinstar purchased all remaining shares of dvd rental kiosk company redbox for 175 million from mcdonald s corporation making outerwall the sole owner . 6 prior to this coinstar and mcdonald s each owned 47 % of redbox shares with various other parties owning the remaining 6 % . on june 28 2013 shareholders voted to change the company name from coinstar to outerwall . 7 on july 2 2013 coinstar acquired mobile phone recycling kiosk operators ecoatm for 350 million not including debt and the company name was changed to outerwall . 8 on october 7 2013 barry rosenstein s hedge fund jana partners filed a 13d on shares of outerwall outr and disclosed a new 13.5 % ownership stake in outr with 3 777 995 shares . the activist 13d filing indicated that jana expected to talk with management in particular that they wanted to focus on a review of strategic alternatives including exploring a strategic transaction selling or discontinuing certain businesses or pursuing a sale . 9 subsequently on december 9 2013 outerwall s former ceo j. scott di valerio announced it would discontinue three new ventures and lay off 8.5 % of its workforce . 10 coinstar kiosks edit former coinstar logo currently used exclusively for kiosks . the new logo was launched in 2011 . 11 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 . citation needed 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 . the coin counting processing fee deducted from the total once coins have been counted is 10.9 % in the usa 11.9 % in canada 8.7 % in ireland and 6.8 % 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 12 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 outerwall 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 . 13 outerwall 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 . 14 additional services edit many coinstar machines in the us also sell prepaid products such as green dot preloaded mastercard . in the uk gift cards are not available . outerwall 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 outerwall sold its entertainment business which included skill cranes and bulk vending to national entertainment network . 15 outerwall 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 edit in some sections of the u.s. regional banks have begun offering free coin counting services in the amount of a gift card . 16 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 . 17 in may 2016 in the wake of a new york state lawsuit over accuracy td bank said that it had suspended use of its penny arcade machines and would be removing them from all of its locations . 18 publicity edit may 9 2006 outerwall sued rival coin x change over a patent dispute around the use of voucher issuing machines remote reporting of the coin machines status and anti counterfeiting technology for printed vouchers . 19 to generate publicity outerwall 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 outerwall 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 . 20 march 14 2008 an 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 . 21 march 25 2008 roy disney used his shamrock activist value fund of burbank to ask for changes in outerwall s corporate governance . 22 23 name change edit on june 28 2013 shareholders voted to change the company name from coinstar to outerwall . 7 on july 2 2013 the company traded its first day as outerwall inc. with its new ticker being outr . 24 references edit all business interviews coinstar founder . retrieved 2009 12 09 . us sec form 10 k . retrieved 2012 02 11 . company name company profile from hoover s . outerwall to celebrate its new name ticker and logo at the nasdaq stock market . retrieved oct 3 2013 . 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 . a b rich duprey 28 june 2013 . coinstar shareholders approve changing name to outerwall . fool.com . retrieved 21 july 2015 . coinstar rebrands as outerwall acquires phone recycling startup ecoatm for 350m . venturebeat . retrieved july 2 2013 . http www.marketfolly.com 2013 10 jana partners goes activist on.html ixzz2n6b8lflv . retrieved october 7 2013 . missing or empty title help http variety.com 2013 biz news redbox chief saunders out outerwall to cut 8 5 of workforce 1200940217 . retrieved december 10 2013 . missing or empty title help underconsideration llc . brand new coinstar more coin less star . underconsideration.com . retrieved 21 july 2015 . 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 outerwall s entertainment division . retrieved 2011 05 11 . coinstar cash in coins . sell gift cards . . coinstar.com . retrieved 21 july 2015 . blumenthal jeff 2010 11 18 . td bank drops free coin counting for noncustomers . isidore chris 2016 05 20 . horror td bank dumping penny arcade coin machines . business & technology coinstar files patent lawsuit against coin x change seattle times newspaper . nwsource.com . retrieved 21 july 2015 . donn jeff 2006 07 07 . do pennies still make sense . in the loop . washington post . retrieved 2007 10 28 . coinstar thefts were inside job court documents show . the seattle times . retrieved 21 july 2015 . investment fund seeks coinstar changes . the seattle times . retrieved 21 july 2015 . coinstar proxy contest resolved . the seattle times . retrieved 21 july 2015 . http finance.yahoo.com news outerwall celebrate name ticker logo 100000881.html . external link in title help external links edit corporate website 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 archived 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 https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title outerwall & oldid 738064295 categories companies based in bellevue washingtoncompanies established in 1991vendingouterwall inc. 1991 establishments in washington state hidden categories pages with citations lacking titlespages with citations having bare urlscs1 errors external linksall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from january 2013 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools