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Wincor World '06 highlights comprehensive banking, retail solutions

Innovation in system architecture is changing the way bankers do business. At Wincor World 2006, more than 70 Wincor partners from around the world will be in Paderborn, Germany, to show off solutions they've developed with Wincor Nixdorf.

January 8, 2006 by Tracy Kitten — Editor, AMC

The lines that divide banking and retail solutions are blurring, and as they do, rigid boundaries are beginning to fade.

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Joachim Pinhammer, marketing director for retail at Paderborn, Germany-based Wincor Nixdorf International, said his company and its more than 70 partners are taking what they've learned on the financial side to enhance retail applications. In the area of cash-handling, for instance, banking knowledge has been especially advantageous. "We are well positioned to provide a solution that bridges the retail and the banking side of the cash process."

As 2006 gets into full swing, representatives from some of the world's largest and most-respected technology companies will gather in Paderborn Jan. 24-26 for Wincor's annual financial and retail trade event - Wincor World.

Big names like Fujitsu Siemens, Intel, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems will be showing off their wares. Fujitsu Siemens, a leading European IT company with a strong presence in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, for example, will highlight mobile computing and communications technology. Intel, the world's largest chip manufacturer, Microsoft Germany, Microsoft Corp.'s largest European subsidiary, and Sun Microsystems, which can be found in more than 100 countries, will showcase open, thin-client architecture, among other things. (To learn more about Wincor's partners, visit Wincor World 2006.)

"Other competitors don't attempt to compete (with Wincor World) because they would only be followers," said Uwe Krause, Wincor Nixdorf's director of marketing for financial services.

Wincor World highlights innovative solutions that touch the needs of not only bankers and retailers but a wide variety of industries, including lottery, gaming, hospitality and postal services.

As the self-service industry grows, solutions traditionally used only for banking or retail operations are crossing lines, Krause said, especially on the software side. Wincor's ability to bring its partners from across the globe together to showcase those solutions offers attendees a unique perspective.

Cash handling and recycling: Both touch the banking and retail sectors. On the retail side, innovations in cash handling are changing the way retailers deal with money.

To read more about Wincor's retail solutions, visit KioskMarketplace.

On the banking side, recycling at the ATM and the teller is changing the way bankers handle money, Krause said.

Wincor's ProCash 4000, a cassette-based system introduced last year, has a higher recycling capacity than its ProCash 3100xe predecessor. The 4000 uses four cassettes rather than drums to recycle notes. The cassettes have a 12,500-note capacity, and the combined deposit and withdrawal cassette holds up to 200 notes.

As a self-service strategy at ATMs, cash recycling has taken off in Europe and Asia. In North America, the interest in recycling leans more toward the teller and lobby - places where Wincor's 6000 line of automated teller safes comes in, Krause said.

The 6000 uses a closed-cash cycle that ensures notes are immediately recycled for dispense at the teller. Post-processing transactions at the end of business is eliminated, and the amount of cash tellers have access to is limited. It can operate on six or eight drum modules. Four of the drum modules can hold 600 notes, and the additional two or four modules can hold up to 350 notes each.

The 6100 includes that same type of recycling function for the lobby. It's an under-the-counter safe designed for FIs moving toward branch automation. Like the 6000, the 6100 operates on six or eight drum modules.

"In the U.S., you have some that are trying this now," Krause said. "In Canada and the U.S. market, this is the trend. Wincor World is the kick off for new counter solutions and teller solutions."

Those solutions include Wincor's ProCash/FOnet (front office network). FOnet eliminates the need for cash at the teller or consultant workstation, and through its implementation customers can be encouraged to use self-service options more often.

With FOnet, transactions initiated at the teller are completed at a self-service terminal such as an ATM.

An example: A customer makes a deposit at the teller. If that customer then wants a portion of his deposit in cash, he takes his ATM or EC (electronic cash) debit card to an ATM within the branch and withdraws the money, rather than having the teller fulfill his request.

Any number of teller lines and self-service terminals can be connected to FOnet.

Landesbank Berlin, a Wincor customer, said it saved between 80 percent and 90 percent on branch-transaction costs since deploying FOnet in 2002. The bank also received a European Banking Technology award in IT retail banking for its implementation of FOnet.

"At Wincor World you will see net-centric solutions for the teller. They include new tools for cash management and enterprise solutions," Krause said.

The Smart Branch Tool, which simulates branches using some of the technology described above, will be a focus at the show. "We're going to show how you can bring it all together - recycling systems, the teller and the ATM," Krause said.

Everything from software innovations, security (including the ProTect/Enterprise Security Server) and enterprise solutions (including ProClassic/Enterprise) to the outsourcing of cash management and self-service devices will be highlighted.

Staying true to the "sharing perspectives" theme, Wincor World will showcase international banking concepts that include off-premise self-service installations, mobile banking, end-to-end intelligent cash and check solutions and new monitoring functionalities that are integrated into self-service devices as well as the front office.

A 50-50 show

Wincor touts its holistic approach to banking and retail innovation. Although previous shows have leaned toward banking solutions, Krause said this year's event will definitely be a 50-50 show - half banking/financial-related solutions, half retail-related solutions.

For the first time, a host of symposiums and workshops divided into two tracks will address the needs of banking and retail operations. "We've offered them every year, but we are going to extend and continue the offerings this year," Krause said. "In the past, we only had one day for symposia and workshops. Now we will be offering them all three days."

For a complete list of symposiums and workshops, visit Wincor World 2006.

'A revolution in the market'

Bringing global perspectives together is what makes Wincor World atypical, Krause and Pinhammer agreed. Now in its 10th year, the show is unique for the solutions it showcases and the partners it attracts, Krause said. "It's the only event in the world for retail banking that focuses on front, center and back-office processing solutions." 

*ATMmarketplace will provide daily show coverage during Wincor World 2006. Be sure to check in for up-to-date event coverage.