Hardware sales in the Banking segment were sharply down on the previous year. Sales of cash systems (Glossary) reflected the global downturn in supplies of ATMs in the wake of the financial crisis, although we were able to mitigate the impact of this downturn on our own business. The focus of demand was on compact and high-end systems that offer extended functionality, such as coin deposit and payment, savings book processing and statement printing.
In Western Europe, we successfully introduced a new self-service system (Glossary) for postal operators that allows the user to calculate and pay the postal charge for a delivery and print the required stamp.
Sales of non-cash products (Glossary) benefited from investment in the exchange of older transaction terminals and receipt and document printers. They were also driven by software innovations that facilitate the rapid integration into IT environments. By incorporating these systems into their sales and customer service portals, banks can offer value-added services that might include features such as ticket sales.
We successfully piloted a kiosk system that supports the introduction of Germany’s health card and allows users to view their electronic medical file. We also began to market our self-service solutions to pharmacies, health care insurers and hospitals.
Software/Services.
The expansion of our Software/Services business in the Banking segment proceeded according to schedule in the year under review, with a substantial increase in sales.
Underpinning our success in the Software business is our ProClassic software family. This served as the basis for development of our PC/E Suite, which concentrates on sales and service processes in banks’ front office environment. During the year under review, a number of our customers in Germany and Western Europe took the decision to expand their existing installations, and there was great interest in the additional software functions developed by Wincor Nixdorf that support mobile banking and cardless transactions at the ATM via cell phone.
Following a significant rise in attacks, there was also strong demand for software developed by the Company to protect against viruses and data theft at ATMs.
Our Services business recorded an encouraging level of growth in the Banking segment, partly as a result of improved sales of Product Related Services. This growth was achieved despite the downturn in Hardware sales. The main contributory factor was that in addition to existing service agreements, most of which run over several years, some systems were given an extended life, necessitating an extension to maintenance agreements. We also won a number of new customer orders, including a major project in Germany involving the installation of over 18,000 counter/checkout systems (Glossary) within a short period.
A large number of banks were attracted by our Managed Services (Glossary) – modular, flexible combinations of IT operating services – with the result that business in this area grew significantly, especially in Europe. Customers benefit from complete cost transparency and planning certainty with regard to their spending for each system. This makes it easier for many banks to outsource the complete management and operation of their self-service systems to Wincor Nixdorf. In the year under review, in addition to well-known international banks, our customer base in Germany included over 80 savings banks (Sparkassen).
Another successful component of our portfolio of Outsourcing (Glossary) services in the field of IT operations was “Self-Service Channel Management,” which attracted orders from banks in a number of European countries. This involves Wincor Nixdorf taking over responsibility for the operation and management of the self-service infrastructure and applications software as well as management of the entire cash cycle as part of a multi-year project. The expected cost savings are contractually fixed and regularly monitored. In Germany, acting through the joint venture companies Wincor Nixdorf Portavis GmbH and Prosystems IT GmbH, in which we hold majority shares, we have taken over operation of the centralized and decentralized IT infrastructure for banks within the Sparkassen Financial Group – from networks and IT workstations through to telecommunications systems.
With links to our Software portfolio, Professional Services (Glossary) performed very well, and we went ahead with the scheduled expansion of our resources. At the same time, in Germany we realigned the existing consulting (Glossary) and integration business led by Wincor Nixdorf Banking Consulting GmbH. Results from our specialist banking consultancy arm, Bankberatung Organisations- und IT-Beratung für Banken AG, in which we hold a majority interest, remained stable.
