News

Russian bank halves CIT costs with cash recycling ATMs

In a pilot test, an in-branch system turned over its initial cash supply 16 times; the 377-unit fleet is expected to pay for itself within a year.

August 12, 2015

Russia's PJSC Leto Bank has upgraded its entire ATM fleet to add cash recycling capability, with help from Wincor Nixdorf. The project, which involved 377 devices, launched in February 2014 and was completed in July 2015, according to a press release.

The cash recycling systems allow customers to withdraw cash in the form of banknotes that were previously deposited into the machine by other customers. The technology also enables bundle deposit and withdrawal of up to 200 bills per transaction instead of the typical 40 per bundle at regular ATMs, the release said.

In 2014 the bank actively piloted cash recyclers in order to assess their cost impact and operational criteria. Key performance indicators were defined as: operational reliability (interval between cash-in-transit visits, note recognition efficiency, number of notes processed without out-of-service events); performance; customer usability; and software and hardware maintenance provided by the vendor.

One system was installed at a Leto Bank branch in May 2014; a CIT visit was not required until after 7 months of operation compared with a typical two to three visits per month, the release said. Further, the total volume of withdrawals at the machine exceeded the initially loaded cash volume by 16 times owing to customer deposits.

Leto Bank Chairman and President Dmitry Rudenko said that the bank is the first in Russia to equip all its branches with cash recycling ATMs.

"It's a successful business project; the launch of this revolutionary technology has enabled us to cut the cost of CIT services more than twice, and the project's ROI is expected in 12 months."

Wincor monitors the recycler fleet using its ProView network management solution, the release said. Additional services provided include collection and analysis of diagnostic data; recommendations to field service engineers with regard to fault management; remote installation of updates; preventive maintenance; and regular revision of spare parts stock in the regions, among others. that's just a brief list of the daily activities that we successfully perform for the Leto Bank ATM fleet.