BEIJING -- NCR introduced a portable wireless ATM it calls "Harp" at the recent Beijing Banking Exhibition, according to a report in the South China Morning Post.
Because the small, battery-operated ATM uses GPRS (general packet radio services) wireless connectivity, it would be well suited for temporary deployment at events such as the 2008 Olympic Games, to be held in Beijing, said NCR chief technology officer Mark Grossi.
The Harp is designed to be table, wall or frame-mounted, and features a metal box with a lockable front door into which the customer interface is mounted.
A security feature automatically dyes the contents of its pre-loaded cash cassette if the dispenser is tampered with, so that potential thieves would be left with useless notes. An added deterrent to would-be thieves, Grossi said, is the machine's global monitoring system using satellite positioning systems which could accurately determine its location if it was moved.
According to Grossi, banks could use Harp to test demand for cash dispensing at potential locations for off-premises ATMs.
"This could be particularly useful in the mainland, where just 50,000 ATMs are mainly on-site in bank branches," said Rebecca Hu, Beijing-based area deployment manager for NCR.
Another NCR ATM on display at the exhibition was a Web-enabled machine bundled with a router provided by technology alliance partner Cisco, which offers an Internet connection with sufficient bandwidth to support a range of new product offerings, according to NCR business development manager Dean Vaughan.
The new ATMs would run Windows NT and provide video and voice services as well as offering access to selected Web sites to users, Vaughan said.
Samuel Lau, Beijing branch manager for HSBC, said the Web-enabled ATM has potential.
"It will depend on how receptive people are to using the Internet as a channel, which depends quite a lot on their liberty to do transactions. Presently, foreign-exchange business in the mainland, for instance, must be supported by documents, which places a limitation on the automation process," Lau said. "But the direction is to be more liberal in transactions and in the longer run, yes it will be quite useful to banks to use such tools to deliver services."
According to NCR, China has only 40 ATMs per one million people, which is the lowest per-capita penetration in the world.
In the past two months, NCR announced ATM supply deals worth $28.4 million with the China Construction Bank and $20 million with the Bank of China.
The manufacturer currently has offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xian, Chengdu and plans to open another in Wuhan by the end of the year.
