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Thoroughly modern technology at Wincor World '05

The accommodations enjoyed by many attendees of the annual Wincor World trade event, at a 16th-century hunting lodge in the German countryside, made the technology on display at the show appear even more cutting edge in comparison.

February 20, 2005

PADERBORN, Germany - Many attendees of the annual Wincor World trade event stayed at a 16th-century hunting lodge that made it easy to forget the modern world just outside its imposing stone walls.

The deer grazing on the lawn, the huge metal keys used to gain admittance after hours, the ghostly carriage driver rumored to haunt the chilly passageways -- all made this editor feel as if a time machine had deposited her into the German countryside of 300 years ago.

It also made the technology on display at Wincor World appear even more cutting edge in comparison -- which may have been just the effect event organizers intended to convey. Smart thinking.

Uwe Krause, Wincor Nixdorf's director of marketing for Financial Services, checks out the ProCash 2100xe ATM with Claudia Wendorff-George.

As usual, Wincor Nixdorf filled its exhibit space with some of the latest applications from the worlds of banking and retail. More than 7,500 attendees from all corners of the globe were on hand to see them. The event, which always resembles a mini-United Nations, had an even more international feel this year.

Andreas Bruck, Wincor's head of corporate communications, said IT managers from nearly 60 countries attended Wincor World, up from 50 in 2004, with heavy representations from Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Bruck also noted an increased interest from industries such as industrial manufacturing, lotteries and postal services. "Visitors are looking at technologies and solutions on a cross-industry basis, and also learning from each other," he said.

Here, from this editor's perspective, were some of the most interesting products seen at last week's show:

Consumer cash recycling: Wincor continues to tweak its line of cash recycling ATMs, with the introduction of the ProCash 4000. In contrast to the ProCash 3100, the 4000 uses only cassettes rather than drums so it is faster and easier to service.

It can recycle up to 10,000 notes, of up to four denominations per machine -- a capacity three times greater than the 3100. It also processes deposits of 200 notes or less faster than the 3100, making it a more appropriate model for consumer -- rather than small business -- usage.

Managing the money: Realizing cost savings from recycling -- in which notes are deposited into and dispensed from the same machine -- will be difficult without effective cash management.

Working with German and Swiss cash recycling customers, Wincor developed a software tool called CRS Analyzer. The goal: to give customers more control over the flow of currency. If $20 bills are consistently in short supply, for instance, the software can tell the machine to dispense more $5 and $10 bills instead.

The big (branch) picture: A software tool called ProCash Optima helps banks evaluate the costs and benefits of introducing self-service or assisted self-service technologies into their branches. Identifying the "right" mix of self-service and traditional human interaction is tricky, as it will likely vary from branch to branch.

The tool is part of a larger software suite called BranchLab. Banks can use it to get an accurate view of their business processes and overall infrastructure and target areas for improvement.

Uwe Krause, Wincor's director of marketing for Financial Services, believes such analytical tools will become more popular in North America as banks there face cost pressures already experienced by their European counterparts.

The outcome of using such tools, however, will not always be to make sweeping changes. "If the outcome is always to change, then there must be a problem with the business tool," he said.

"GSM, why didn't I think of that," editor Ann All appears to be thinking as she inspects an ATM that uses the technology to thwart thieves.

More proof that the ATM business loves its acronyms: A steel enclosure called the POD (point of dispense) caught the eye of several large banks interested in using it for their OPDs (off-premises deployments). The climate-controlled enclosure, available in six configurations, is already being used by a large independent ATM operator.

The POD is designed to be used with a weatherized version of Wincor's least expensive ATM, the ProCash 1500. Cash-in-transit employees can enter the enclosure through an ingenious sliding door and seal themselves in with a deadlock for secure replenishment. As evidenced by examples at the show, the POD doubles as a highly visible billboard when emblazoned with advertisements.

British telecommunications giant BT is deploying a dozen of them, equipped with an ATM on one side and a payphone on the other, to replace phone booths, which are becoming a money-losing anachronism in the wake of increasing mobile phone usage. The ATMs will piggyback on BT's existing power supply and telecommunication lines, and BT will take a cut of transaction revenues.

Thin is in: Working with its partner Sun Microsystems, Wincor is ushering in the age of thin client architecture, which will help banks streamline branch operations by reducing the number of PCs and servers required for data processing.

Wincor's new ProCash 4000 doubles the capacity of its earlier cash recycling machines.

Later this year, Wincor will introduce a thin client teller application called Front Office/TOP that can be used to manage multiple teller stations and devices such as ATMs. All devices can be connected to Front Office/TOP with Wincor's XFS-based daNCe software. Front Office/TOP will allow banks to use a mix of thin and fat clients, so they can migrate to the newer architecture at their own pace.

Security on track: Wincor showed a location system for ATMs that utilizes GSM technology. If an ATM is stolen, a modem inside the machine sends an SMS text message to a tracking center, where personnel can follow the machine's movements on a map. The system can help authorities quickly recover the machine - and hopefully apprehend the bad guys. Usage of such a product might dissuade bad guys from snatching ATMs in the first place.

Air ATM: One of the most unusual sights at the show was an ATM on a red disk hovering several inches off the ground. The disk uses air cushion technology that has long been used in the theater industry to easily move sets and other bulky items.

According to a Wincor representative, a German bank uses the disks to move ATMs from its outer foyer, where they are located overnight, into the branch in an effort to get more customers to come inside. The disks could also come in handy at sites like shopping malls, where frequent movement of ATMs is desired.