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Branch automation, security grab attention at RD

Windows is changing the way deployers see and use their ATMs. And though the concepts aren't new, at last week's Retail Delivery Conference & Expo, most discussions revolved around figuring out how to maximize customer experience through integration and automation.

November 19, 2005 by Tracy Kitten — Editor, AMC

The experience for most who attended BAI's (Bank Administration Institute's) 28th annual Retail Delivery Conference & Expo Nov. 15-18 was the same: After hopping off the plane in Orlando, Fla., you took a moment to breathe in the warm air and realize that the "vacation," as it were, was over.

The next few days were filled with snack-sized meals, cat-naps and lots of walking up and down the exhibit hall floor in the Orange County Convention Center.

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If you were one of the lucky ones who came early to catch a few of the pre-conference forums and workshops, your five days in the Disney city were well-spent … but draining.

BAI is touted as being the largest conference of its kind dedicated to retail financial services. And though exhibitors this year grumbled that showroom attendance appeared to be down, BAI's preliminary calculations place overall attendance at about 4,800 people - a number that includes approximately 1,800 attendees and 3,000 people at the expo's 380 exhibition booths.

A BAI representative said attendance numbers dropped slightly from '04, but the drop wasn't significant. "I think it's pretty much the same as last year. We tried to give more exhibit hall space to each of the exhibitors."

"We were down a little bit on the exhibitor side," the representative said. "We had about 405 last year. But the paid-attendee registration was on course, so there wasn't a real change."

International attendance was in line with last year, too, with about 22 percent of the conference's attendees hailing from beyond the United States.

Ken Justice, vice president of product marketing and management for North Canton, Ohio-based Diebold Inc., walked away with a glass-half-full impression.

His take: The quantity of attendees may have been down, but attendee-quality was up.

Wincor's Alexandra Rilinger clicks through Wincor's FOnet solution.

"I've been going to this show since 1988, and the booth at times in the past would be so busy you didn't really feel like you had time to talk to everybody," Justice said. "This year, the crowd being down gave us time to spend with the customers that were there."

And what were those customers most interested in learning more about? Branch automation - and that includes hauling the ATM from its silo back into the branch, Justice said.

"This notion of assisted self-service - a hybrid model with some assisted self-service - is something you will continue to see grow," he said. "Globally, banks are realizing now that the ATM channel is not a replacement channel to the branch, but a complementary channel. I think that's important," and so did other exhibitors.

Notable competitors, Paderborn, Germany-based Wincor Nixdorfand Dayton, Ohio-based NCR Corp., also highlighted solutions focusing on branch automation, namely Wincor's ProCash/FOnet (front office network) and NCR's Branch Assist.

"This trend is already in Europe, and it will take time to spread in the U.S.," but it's on the way, said Alexandra Rilinger, a product manager in Wincor's banking division. "This solution (FOnet) can be integrated, between the front and back office. It's something that's giving more flexibility. It's an open environment that cuts cost … and can double the use of self-service."

Vero's Lynn Holland demonstrates how to use Vero's check-cashing solution, shown above on a Dell workstation.

NCR highlighted Branch Optimization - a portfolio designed to "significantly enhance consumer experience in the branch," a company spokesperson said. Part of that optimization includes Branch Assist - a solution that enables bank customers to initiate or complete standard transactions with assistance from a teller. With the new tech, which uses Aptra software, each teller can monitor several terminals. 

"Consumers today use multiple channels," said Bob Tramontano, NCR's vice president of engineering and product marketing for financial solutions. "Bringing an element of self-service to teller transactions gives consumers the best of both worlds."

Like many of the concepts and solutions showcased at BAI, channel integration is nothing new - it's just a concept that's finally starting to grab attention, said John Tyler, vice president of Wincor Nixdorf Banking USA.

Norcross, Ga.-based IBT, a company that's been talking "strategic" branch design for more than 20 years, approaches channel optimization from a structural perspective. "We see what's working out there, as far as automation goes, and we bring our experience and forward-thinking to the design," said Carmen Cox, IBT's vice president of marketing. "A lot of our customers are looking to put an ATM in the teller line. We call it 'automation migration.'"

One company that's cashing in on that "automation migration" concept is Vero, a Portland, Ore.-based financial solutions provider. At the Vero booth, attendees were shown how Vero's check-cashing solution increases branch efficiency by effectively touching new customers.

Vero announced at the show that California-based Palm Desert National Bankis expected to introduce the solution in its three branches in 2006.

IBT's Carmen Cox explains IBT's branch-design concepts to fellow exhibitor Mike Weikert of ACT.

'Windows is changing the world'

Beyond channel integration and design, security rang in at a close second on the interest-scale. It was showcased by all of the aforementioned, as well as a gamut of others, including Symantec, HP and eFunds. It's no secret that as standards open, so too does the potential for security breaches.

Symantec's David Miner, during his workshop, "IP-ATM Security - How Are You Protecting Your Business and Customer?" said, "There's no question: Windows is changing the world. The fundamental problem is endpoint compliance. There are a lot of different ways people can access your network, and you have to protect yourself."

And most vendors are capitalizing on that need for network security.

HP, which also is "big in the channel integration space," is helping FIs comply with security and hardware regulations, said Chip Greenlee, HP's director of marking and solutions for financial services industries.

Check 21, he added, is a big part of that. "We've had a partnership with Fiserv for the last year, and we've worked with them to help expand that service. You have to be able to detect fraudulent checks."

At its booth, HP showed off its Triple DES-encrypted Web browser, a browser that can be added to cell phones for mobile banking.

Diebold showed off its "Secure Anti-Fraud Enhancements," or S.A.F.E., ATM solution, which the company expects to take to market early next year. "The solution helps banks address the fraud issue of attaching fraudulent devices to the ATM - a skimming device or a trapping device," Diebold's Justice said. "With S.A.F.E., we would be able to detect anything that's attached to the ATM (through algorithms)."

NCR, which has a solution that detects devices attached to the ATM through electromagnetic transmissions, focused on its deal with Solidcore Systems Inc. - an extension to NCR's "holistic" approach to ATM security. NCR is integrating its Aptra software with technology from Solidcore, a developer of IT control solutions.

The future won't be too exciting

If you were like most exhibitors and attendees, you probably didn't see or hear everything you wanted to. From booth-touring to workshop-attending, a week really isn't enough. Not even ATMmarketplace could be everywhere at once. But the editor did manage to pull a few predictions from analysts at the show.

So what should the industry expect in 2006? Well, it's not likely to be anything too exciting, say TowerGroup analyst Jerry Silva and Celent analyst Madhavi Mantha.

Now that FIs have spent so much time and money upgrading their ATMs to Windows and ensuring their Triple-DES compliance, they're going to start focusing on value, Silva said. Personalization and targeted marketing will garner most of the attention.

"Using the ATM as an alert device will be the next big thing, in my opinion," Silva said. "For instance, the ATM will let me know when mortgage rates hit a certain amount. And the bank will tell you this regardless of whether you're at the teller, the ATM or online."

One caution: "Banks have to remember not to use the ATM as a billboard," when it comes to marketing products."

In Mantha's opinion, 2006 will be a year of "cautious trials of new functionality."

"It all goes back to customer experience at the ATM," Mantha said. "The ATM needs to be more intuitive. Until it's more intuitive, people won't use it for more than cash withdrawal."