Article

First Data certifies NCR's Scalable Deposit Module

Certification is an important step for getting wide acceptance of new ATM platforms.

May 17, 2011

First Data Corp., the world's largest payments processor, has certified NCR Corp.'s Scalable Deposit Module (SDM) platform on First Data's network, Andrew Aceto, vice president of NCR's Global Market Intelligence Group, told financial executives yesterday during a conference hosted by the manufacturer.

Aceto made the disclosure while demonstrating the SelfServ 34 ATM with the SDM platform during the manufacturer's 2011 Innovation Road Show in Des Plaines, Ill., a Chicago suburb. About 80 officials from banks and credit unions attended the one-day conference.

NCR's Scalable Deposit Module, which is considered the ATM manufacturer's biggest product, enables consumers to deposit both cash and checks simultaneously through a single slot in a SelfServ 34 model ATM.

With the deposit technology, a typical consumer transaction of five bank notes and two checks can take less than 60 seconds to deposit.

Duluth, Ga.-based NCR has sold single-slot ATMs to JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co, the nation's second and third-largest bank owners of ATMs.

"Chase and Wells Fargo have their own switches," said Jeff Dudash, an NCR spokesperson. "First Data's certification means we can sell our Scalable Deposit Module to smaller banks that don't have their own switches."

Gil Luria, an analyst with Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles, agrees.

"Getting certified by the processors is an important step for getting wide acceptance of new ATM platforms and as the largest processor of ATM transactions, First Data carries special importance," Luria said. 

Dudash added that Fremont Bank in Fremont, Calif., has deployed the SelfServ 34 single-slot ATM after First Data certified the Scalable Deposit Module platform.

 NCR, which is the world's largest ATM manufacturer based on annual shipments, is waiting for certification from other payments processors.