Being sent to Siberia is normally not a good thing, but it is in the case of an agreement Diebold Inc. reached with Sovcombank Investment and Commercial Bank LLC, which is based in Moscow.
Diebold today announced that it will provide more than 200 Opteva 522 ATMs to Sovcombank. The ATMs are designed for off-premises locations and lobby installations and that is a good thing because Sovcombank will deploy the machines in the Siberian, Central and Far East regions of Russia.
The deal is part of an agreement between Sovcombank, Diebold and the Center of Financial Technologies, a software company based in Novoibirsk, Russia. The integration of Diebold's hardware with the Center of Financial Technologies' software will enable the 522, a cash dispenser, to do much more than dispense cash from its five cassettes.
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Bank customers will be able to pay cell phone and utility bills through the machines. In addition, cardholders will be able to transfer funds and repay loans through the ATMs.
"We continue to extend our retail network and the range of services offered. Bringing quality services and attracting new customers are key priorities in the development of our bank," said Igor Lappi, manager of the central branch of Sovcombank. "Cooperation with Diebold will help us reach our goals and provide a high level of service to our clients."
Gil Luria, an analyst with Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles, said the contract does not represent a turnaround for Diebold in Russia, Europe's largest ATM market.
"Not quite yet - although this is a nice win with an existing customer, Diebold is still far off from where it was in this market before the financial crisis," Luria said. In 2009, ATM deployments dropped in Russia after oil prices plunged.
With this agreement, Sovcombank now operates more than 450 Diebold ATMs in its network, said Dave Wetzel, vice president and managing director of Diebold for Europe Middle East Africa. Diebold, the world's third-largest ATM manufacturer, based on annual shipments has its headquarters in Green, Ohio.
