News

University ATM offers 'slam dunk' of functionality

November 16, 2003

FRISCO, Texas - Fujitsu Transaction Solutions Inc. and its partner, mCom Financial Solutions, hope to achieve a "slam dunk" of ATM functionality with their pilot of a Web-enabled ATM at Villanova University's field house.

The "Villanova Wildcats"-branded unit, deployed by NOVA Savings Bank, will offer university basketball tickets and specialized banking services as well as cash and other standard ATM transactions.

NOVA, a four-branch, state-chartered Pennsylvania financial institution with assets of about $330 million, is the first bank to implement the Prism 1:1 software application co-developed and co-branded by Fujitsu and mCom.

Called the "Nova Financial Center," the ATM offers customized banking services that have been designed specifically for university students. It will also be the sole distribution point for student basketball tickets, relieving congestion at the university's box office.

"This project results from our customers' demand for enhanced, customized ATM services," said Brian Hartline, NOVA's president and chief executive, in the release. "In addition, Fujitsu's Series 8000, running Prism 1:1, delivers NOVA's brand and products much more effectively than the typical 'green screen.' As far as I know, the NOVA-Villanova co-sponsorship strategy is the first of its kind."

Literally wrapped in a NOVA/Wildcats banner, the dual-screen ATM displays Villanova sporting highlights and NOVA banking information on the upper screen in stylized video clips.
 
For every home game, Villanova reserves 1,500 basketball tickets for its 6,100 students. These tickets are distributed via an online campus lottery, offering every student an equal chance to attend the games. A flat fee for football and basketball tickets is added to all student tuitions.

By December -- the beginning of "hoops" season -- Prism 1:1 will allow the Fujitsu unit to dispense these pre-printed basketball tickets. To pick them up, lottery winners will simply swipe their student identification cards through the ATM's card-reader, replacing the lines, lists and resources necessary to run the box office.

"Brian Hartline and I created this project in order to strengthen both NOVA's customer base and Villanova's athletics program," said Chris Heck, Villanova's assistant vice president and general manager of ISP sports. "The bank's strategy involves attracting college freshmen who are generally first-time users of banking and financial services. For universities, it's a good idea to place ATMs inside athletic facilities when selling concessions and merchandise. This concept goes a step further by allowing students to pick up tickets any time -- not just when the box office is open. The bank, the university, the students -- we all win."

The Prism 1:1 application also will enable Nova Bank to offer personalized ATM services to its customers.

"We plan to ask about 100 students to customize their transactions, via personal computer, using the university's intranet," said Robel Gugsa, Fujitsu's senior systems engineer. "With Prism 1:1's personalization capabilities, students can request services such as specific withdrawal amounts, paper or e-mail receipts, and displayed (or non-displayed) account balances to be presented each time they use the ATM."

"NOVA is at the forefront of personalization," said Neill Collins, Fujitsu's vice president of financial systems product operations.
 
Concord EFS, Inc. operates the Starnetwork, which hosts transactions for NOVA's ATMs. Concord's Kevin Carroll, director of ATM products, said the Villanova project proves that the parties involved are market leaders.

"NOVA is small, innovative and flexible enough to take advantage of these new capabilities; it's the first mid-tier bank in our network to accomplish this goal," Carroll said.