The current situation in retail banking is marked by increasingly tough competition and a general loss of confidence among customers in the wake of the economic and financial crisis. Banks are now in a position where they have to make huge efforts to stay ahead in the market. One key way in which they can achieve this is through the optimization, standardization and automation of processes, all of which can help to boost productivity and earnings. At the same time, the quality of communications with consumers is a crucial factor. Wincor Nixdorf helps banks to meet these complex challenges by providing IT solutions especially designed for branch and self-service sales channels as well as for the Internet and mobile banking.
One-stop Provider for Branch Requirements.
The branch remains a vital point of contact with customers, and the most important sales channel in the retail banking industry, despite the increasing use made of other sales media. Consequently, Wincor Nixdorf supports the banks’ own efforts to expand and modernize their branch networks by offering a full range of services for the ongoing development and management of those branches. Our portfolio starts with an assessment of branch processes in order to provide a foundation for the development of new branch concepts. Acting as a general contractor, we draw up and implement expansion or conversion plans and provide training for staff on how to work with these new concepts. We integrate branch IT systems into modern software infrastructures and can take over operation of the entire information and telecommunications infrastructure of the branch networks.
Process Automation and Migration to Self-service.
A major goal of banks is to relieve their branch employees of routine tasks so that they can spend more time offering personal advice to customers. Wincor Nixdorf supports this transition across the entire spectrum of retail banking activities. Thanks to our comprehensive portfolio of hardware, software and consulting (Glossary) services, existing procedures can be migrated rapidly onto a self-service basis and the corresponding processes automated. At the heart of this change is the way cash is handled. As well as automating cash withdrawals, our solutions facilitate a host of other processes such as depositing banknotes, checks and coins. Cash recycling is another important development. Systems equipped with our technology conduct a verification check before reusing cash for withdrawals. This cycle is performed inside the machine itself and thus reduces the costs involved in cash handling.
The incorporation of new hardware and software components has greatly enhanced the functionality of our systems. For example, “value-added services” make it possible to issue tickets or top up pre-paid cell phone cards using a self-service system (Glossary) . Our self-service portfolio also includes a comprehensive range of transaction terminals and statement printers.
Consistent Customer Data Processing – Centralized Process Management.
One of the banks’ main tasks is to process individual customer data for their sales channels and to make it available wherever required. Only this way can they remain in touch anywhere and everywhere. In response, Wincor Nixdorf has developed the ProClassic / Enterprise Retail Banking Solution Suite. This software platform makes it possible to integrate and control the full range of sales channels, key customer-related sales/marketing processes and service/support processes. It also ensures the consistent use of data, with the result that the banks can support individual customers on the basis of the same information through any sales channel. We regularly add new functions to our retail software platform, which now also covers mobile banking.
There are two main benefits of this integration. First of all, it improves bank services and sales opportunities at the customer-bank interface; secondly, it provides the basis for standardization and optimization of the IT infrastructure. Since the software platform is designed as a service-oriented architecture (SOA) (Glossary) according to the net-centric principle, banking methods and functions can be implemented rapidly and transferred to various mobile devices.
Competence for Customized Solutions.
The Professional Services (Glossary) we provide to the banking industry are divided into three areas: Consulting Services (Glossary) , Technology Services and Application Management. Consulting Services includes the redevelopment of business processes, specialist banking process consultancy and application analysis. The development of new software architecture concepts, operating concepts and system integration come under the heading Technology Services, while Application Management covers services such as application maintenance or upgrading. Given the global nature of our organization and its wide-ranging portfolio of Professional Services, Wincor Nixdorf is ideally placed to act as a partner to multinational banks.
Protecting Retail Banks from Criminal Attack.
Establishing a secure branch environment for handling cash and sensitive customer data is of paramount importance to banks. Our comprehensive security portfolio offers solutions for individual systems, branches and overarching processes to counter a large number of potential attack scenarios. Our systems are there to protect data, software and cash through identity and access controls and ongoing security monitoring.
