San Diego -- EcoATM, a start-up known for its innovative kiosks that fully automates the buy-back of used mobile phones and other portable electronics, has made its first major expansion outside of California by installing 28 kiosks in malls throughout Texas. The automated kiosks, which are typically located in malls and grocery stores, allow people to exchange their used or broken electronics, ranging from iPhones to MP3 players, for cash.

“Over the past three years of testing the kiosks in California, ecoATM has seen tremendous consumer response, because we have created a kiosk that has two important features: it offers instant cash payment just like an ATM, and it is convenient and easy to use. No other buy-back or recycling systems have achieved this,” said Tom Tullie, chairman and CEO of ecoATM.

The ecoATM kiosk network has already paid out millions of dollars to hundreds of thousands of customers for their old electronics, and in the process saved our landfills from hundreds of thousands of potentially toxic electronic devices. EcoATM finds second homes for three-fourths of the collected devices and responsibly recycles the rest to reclaim the rare earth metals.

The 5-ft. high ecoATM kiosk uses cameras, artificial intelligence and proprietary to recognize devices. It assesses the physical and electrical damage to the device, and then gives a cash offer.