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Luc Villeneuve
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And his perspective appears to be spot on — Canadians are big ATM users, and they are not afraid to try new technology.
According to independent research conducted by NCR, 95 percent of Canadian cardholders use ATMs, or automated banking machines as they are called in Canada, more than once per week. And Canadians rank among the world's highest debit-card users, with each cardholder conducting an estimated 105 debit transactions in 2007.
The ATM Industry Association estimates that 99 percent of Canadians 18 years of age and older are banked, meaning they have savings and/or checking accounts with financial institutions.
The recent move to EMV is expected to spur further ATM usage and financial growth, as chip-and-PIN technology opens the door for additional financial transactions and services.
For Villeneuve, it all means more opportunity for NCR, especially in the off-premises, white-label ATM space.
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About Villeneuve
Before NCR, Villeneuve spent five years at Sun Microsystems Canada as VP of Sales. He's held senior executive sales and marketing positions at BCE, GE Capital ITS and CNC Global Ltd. He is bilingual and holds a business administration degree from Algonquin College.
He is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario's Marketing Management Executive Program.
He is a certified Six Sigma practitioner.
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Today, less than 10 percent of NCR's business in Canada is handled through channel partners, Villeneuve says. He hopes to build that channel-partner business to between 30 percent and 35 percent.
"By the time I cover the top 15 accounts, our channel program has to be able to capture the coverage in the rest of the marketplace," he said. "I am spending time on what we can do on our channel program, to encourage our business partners to come under the cover of NCR to cover the areas that we can't cover, like more work with white-label deployers."
A leader in the banking segment, Villeneuve also plans to branch NCR Canada's service reach.
"The sales cycle for the banks in this marketplace is seven, eight, nine, 10 years long," Villeneuve said. "It's difficult for us to play in that space until they have a requirement for replacement or refreshing of their products. So now we need to focus on showing them our expertise, so when it comes time for them to invest in their cycle, they think about us."
With so many Canadian FIs cutting their products and services investments by 15 percent or 20 percent, Villeneuve says NCR is looking for new ways to pick up business — part of the overall theme for the new president, who took the NCR Canada helm only three months ago.
"There is a big wave in mobility, and we are looking at spending more time with ISVs (independent software vendors) to see how we can bring more of that to the banks," Villeneuve said. "We are trying to convince them that NCR is a good partner."
A unique structure in a unique market
NCR's corporate structure in Canada is somewhat unique. As the president of NCR Canada, which employees about 700 people, Villeneuve oversees all of NCR's products and services covering all verticals — financial, retail, entertainment, gaming, travel and healthcare.
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Quick facts
Canada has more than 55,000 ATMs: 16,500 ATMs are owned by FIs 35,000 ATMs are 'white label'
571,350 direct payment/POS devices linked to Interac at retail locations across Canada
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"I see where the market is going from multiple points of view," he said. "My footprint is quite large. It's very helpful to be able to balance these things out, though, and that helps to give a holistic approach when we want to work in different verticals."
