Co-op Financial tests ATM software to reduce shared-branch locations' costs

Co-op Financial Services today announced that it is testing software on an NCR Corp. SelfServ model ATM that performs the same functions as a teller in Co-op's shared branch locations.

Co-op, which operates one of the nation's largest surcharge-free ATM networks for credit unions with 28,000 machines, is trying out the software at Co-op's Shared Branching Service Center in St. Clair Shores, Mich., Bill Prichard, a spokesperson, tells ATMmarketplace.com.

The software, Shared Branching for ATMs, enables Co-op members to deposit checks and cash, monitor account balances, withdraw cash, transfer funds between accounts and pay bills, says Prichard, adding that Co-op wrote the software program, which works with NCR's Aptra Edge 3.00.50 software. NCR introduced its SelfServ line of ATMs in January 2007.

Co-op wants to move cardholders away from the teller line in its shared-branch locations, reduce the number of tellers and increase surcharge-fee revenue because non-Co-op members would pay an undisclosed charge to use the machines.

"The software goes on existing ATMs, providing credit unions with shared branching capabilities at a much lower cost than buying a standalone unit," said Stan Hollen, president and CEO of Co-op Financial Services, which is based in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

The credit union association operates 4,000 shared-branch locations nationwide. A shared branch is a building in which members of multiple credit unions conduct financial transactions as they would in their home credit-union office.

The ATMs would be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Prichard says. The machines also appeal to consumers' desire for self service, he says. Co-op expects to complete testing of the software in the fourth quarter, and it would be up to managers at shared-branch locations to decide whether they want to have the software installed in their machines.

"The software is the first to provide shared branch functionality for the nation's credit unions using existing terminals and infrastructure; therefore, leveraging the credit union's investment in their ATMs," company officials said in a statement.

The software testing is one of three alternatives Co-op is offering members to reduce their operating costs. The association already has rolled out Co-op Fast Branch, which is a kiosk placed in a lobby that performs the same functions as a teller, Prichard says.

Sometime next year, Co-op will introduce additional features to the software now being tested on the NCR ATMs. Technicians also will be able to install the software on Diebold Inc. ATMs, says Prichard, who declined to discuss the additional functions.