NOW POSTBANK CUSTOMERS CAN TOP UP WITH CASH AT SHELL

Postbank customers can now pay their fuel bills at Shell service stations and withdraw cash at the same time. At present the first stations have been converted to the new technology in Hamburg. Shell is introducing this unique service in Germany at up to 1,300 stations by the middle of 2010.
The companies involved in the launch of this system are Shell Deutschland Oil GmbH, Postbank as banking partner and Wincor Nixdorf as technology partner.
Latest technology unites cash withdrawal, POS functions and security
Customers can use their current or savings account card in conjunction with their personal identification number to withdraw cash at the Intelligent Cash Management (ICM) systems that Wincor Nixdorf has developed. In the startup phase this service is available to the roughly 7.5 million holders of these Postbank accounts. It is planned to make this service available to customers of other banks as well, probably this year.
The integrated payment function is based on software and modules to count the cash, validate its authenticity and deposit it securely. The change is also dispensed automatically, allowing the cashier to concentrate entirely on the customer. The software controls transactions and provides information on current cash levels, for example, so that enough cash is available at all times.
Nationwide offer for holders of card-based current and savings accounts / greater security at service stations
“For Postbank, this offer is another milestone on our way to optimizing the supply of cash for our customers,” says Dr. Michael Meyer, Retail director and member of the Managing Board at Postbank. “This cooperation helps us to fill some remaining white spaces on the map. In addition to 7,000 CashGroup automated teller machines and several thousand Postbank and Deutsche Post branches, we can now offer our customers many other sources of cash. With this service, Postbank and its cooperation partners Shell and Wincor Nixdorf are acting as pioneers in Germany as it is unique,” Meyer continues. “We feel this step has set us up optimally for the future because the way cash is obtained in Germany is going to change fundamentally in the years ahead.”
Michael Dopheide, Shell's Retail Sales and Operations Manager in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, thinks drivers want access to as many services as possible in one place. Alongside extra service for customers, the new facilities at Shell stations also provide extra security. “The new system delivers maximum protection for our service station operators and their employees against robberies,” Dopheide points out. In the future, cash will no longer be readily accessible at Shell stations but be stored in locked safes.
In this exemplary project Wincor Nixdorf combined technologies from its two main fields of expertise to form a tailored solution for a retail bank and a service station operator. “Together with our renowned partners Shell and Postbank we have developed a cost-efficient process that provides more security and a new offer for consumers. We see great potential for cash automation solutions at banks and retail companies,” says Eckard Heidloff, President and Chief Executive Officer of Wincor Nixdorf AG.

Wincor Nixdorf's complete solution consists of hardware, software and service components that have been enhanced to meet the specific requirements of the processes in Shell's German service station business and at Postbank.
It involves counter-operated automated teller machines that are handled by cashiers at the stations. The systems validate the authenticity of banknotes, store them securely in a safe and pay out the change after placing it in an escrow in readiness for paying out. This cycle runs inside the system and is called cash recycling.
Coins can be deposited either by the cashier or the customer in a coin recycling system. Every deposited coin is checked for counterfeiting. Coins that are not recognized and forgeries are output again immediately. The closed cash cycle rules out change errors and tampering by staff.
The products to pay cash in and out are called iCash systems and are controlled from the point-of-sale application.
In addition to installing the systems and making the necessary software available, Wincor Nixdorf will attend to operating with an extensive package of services. Part of the service agreement covers the processing and forwarding of payment data from service station business and the data for handling outpayments. Here, data from all connected shell stations is pooled via a data center at Wincor Nixdorf and transferred to Postbank's data center.
Wincor Nixdorf also generates information about cash levels and cash movements at the service stations and passes this on to Postbank several times a day. This data is then used to control cash-in-transit operators optimally.