Retail Delivery '04 wrap-up

One can see a fake volcano, faux Eiffel Tower, phony pyramid and other unreal objects on a quick tour of Las Vegas, the city that has elevated artificiality into an art form.

But inside the Las Vegas Convention Center, it was the real deal for attendees of last week's BAI Retail Delivery Conference and Expo. They were wowed by some of today's latest and greatest financial self-service technology.

Not quite ready for Triple DES? Vendors want to help. Front and center in the KAL booth was the software developer's upgrade kit, which includes a Triple DES-compliant EPP (encrypting PIN pad) and processor, along with KAL's multi-vendor Kalignite NDC application.

Triton showed an upgrade kit that will essentially transform its legacy 9500 into a 9100, its popular entry-level ATM, at a price point that Triton President Brian Kett called "very, very attractive."

Thales was promoting a trade-up program that offers a 25 percent discount off its HSM 8000 host security module, along with one year of free support and maintenance and two days of free training, for ATM operators trading in their Atalla A10000E unit . The Thales HSM processes 800 transactions per second, compared to 540 tps for the Atalla model.

The skinny on software: Wincor Nixdorf has four German customers running thin client ATM applications, rather than the usual fat client, on some 15,000 ATMs. In a thin client environment, applications are updated on a server rather than the ATM itself, making it simpler and less expensive to manage a network, said Scott Hackl, vice president of Wincor's Banking Solutions USA.

Counting on coins: mCom demonstrated its Darwin software, which allows financial institutions to update content at kiosks, ATMs and other devices using a browser-based control panel, with a child-oriented coin-counting application.

An animated parrot named Penny invites kids to dump their coins into a counter, which dispenses an itemized receipt they can exchange for cash at the teller window. Two FIs that have installed the counters have seen lobby traffic "go through the roof," said Dan Stechow, mCom's chief operating officer.

ervice for sale? Rumor has it that a large third-party service company may be pondering a sale to an ATM vendor looking to beef up its service infrastructure in the United States.

And then there were… Two transaction processors -- practically the only independents left after the Royal Bank of Scotland purchased Lynk Systems in September -- are reportedly talking to potential buyers as well.

Serve the customer: Wachovia spent a whopping $100 million to improve customer service following its 2000 merger with First Union. "You cannot sell enough product to make up the loss from customer attrition," said G. Kennedy Thompson, Wachovia's chairman, president and chief executive officer. The investment paid off; attrition levels have fallen from 20 percent in 2000 to 10.5 percent today.

Fire his hairdresser: A Donald Trump impersonator, wearing what looked like an orange fright wig, entertained attendees several times a day in Fiserv's booth.

Intriguing interface: Diebold showed a concept ATM that utilized a dial-like device called a haptic user interface, rather than a keypad, for PIN entry. One could enter PINs and select transactions by twirling the dial, then pressing a button that felt a bit like a computer mouse. The device would eliminate shoulder surfing and provide a more intuitive interface for users with disabilities, said Jim Block, Diebold's director of advanced technology.

While I had trouble entering my PIN, I was not weaned on electronic games -- not so the next generation of ATM users.

Free of fees: Thanks to both Diebold and Triton for offering surcharge-free ATMs in the exhibit hall. The machine in my hotel lobby charged $3, which was more than this frugal user wanted to pay. Bill Jackson, Triton's chief technical officer, said some $7,000 was dispensed from his company's machine, which used cellular technology rather than a traditional phone line for connectivity.

Persistence pays: Trusted Security Solutions is adding a persistent key component to its A98 Initial Key Establishment System that will allow the first half of a cryptographic key to be injected into an ATM either at the factory or during installation. Then a single service technician can visit the machine to inject the second half of the key.

The method is less costly and more secure than the usual practice of dispatching two technicians with key components to ATMs, said Dennis Abraham, the company's president.

Checks and balances: Vero, a company founded by retail ATM pioneer Dave Grano, is introducing an automated check cashing solution designed to help FIs move non-customers cashing checks away from the teller line. A teller enrolls the user in the system; thereafter the user can cash his checks at an ATM equipped with an image scanner.

Vero will install its first system at a branch of California's Palm Desert National Bank in December. PDNB also plans to make the product available to its vault cash clients, primarily ISOs who may be interested in offering it to retailers.

CashWorks has grown its check cashing customer base to some 3,000 locations since it began offering the service at two new terminals that totally automate the process. Previously, a clerk or other party had to initiate the process at a point-of-sale terminal.

Will Sowell, the company's general manager, said CashWorks also plans to target FIs, many of whom are interested in attracting new customers that currently do not have bank accounts. Check cashing offers a way to get those potential customers into a bank branch, Sowell said.

Another newcomer, Financial Payments, demonstrated its automated check cashing service in both the Tidel and Tranax booths. Brent Turner, the company's chief operating officer, said Financial Payments offers users the ability to load their funds onto a prepaid debit card that can be activated right at the ATM/kiosk.

Entry level ATMs: Both NCR and Diebold debuted ATMs designed to be the most compact and cost effective members of their flagship product lines. In NCR's case, the Personas 62 replaces its EasyPoint 55 and EasyPoint 57. Diebold's Opteva 500 supplants its CashSource Plus 200 and CashSource Plus 400. The new models, unlike those they displaced, feature full-blown PC processors.

ATM service, the movie: Bank employees or other folks performing first-line ATM service on Diebold ATMs can view step-by-step video instructions on procedures such as clearing paper jams on the service screen in the rear of its machines.

Facing down fraud: Several vendors, including Wincor Nixdorf, NCR and Diebold, demonstrated devices designed to thwart both card skimming and card trap schemes at ATMs. An idea that would be extremely simple and inexpensive to implement, seen in NCR's booth, was a screen graphic with text that read: "If the ATM card reader does not look like this, do not use it."

Easy integration: A TRM executive attending the show said the conversion of 17,000 ATM contracts it purchased from eFunds Corporation will likely be one of the simplest in industry history. "They were on eFunds yesterday, and they'll be on eFunds tomorrow," he said, noting that eFunds will continue to provide transaction processing and other services for five years.

Learning curve: Panelists in a session entitled "Check 21: From Compliance to ROI" agreed that the industry needs to address several issues related to check imaging, including the quality of images. One panelist noted that while quality has improved, it remains far from perfect.

"We're not out of the woods yet," he said, noting that his institution experienced problems with checks that featured a graphic of an American flag - a popular style with patriotic customers.

Site surveys: Both MapInfo and Claritas offer services that they say will help FIs pinpoint the best new locations for ATMs (and bank branches) by analyzing such factors as household incomes of area residents and proximity to existing ATMs.

Bill Harvey, vice president of Claritas' National Accounts Group, said Claritas, can drill down into data to, for instance, pinpoint differences between daytime and night time populations. "You might have a large workforce population during the day that wouldn't be there at night, which is something that you'd want to know."

POS product: Level Four, which markets simulation tools for ATMs, introduced a similar product for POS terminals. The simulator allows users to test of any kind of transaction, online or offline, initiated with either magnetic stripe or chip cards. Jorge Fernandez, president of Level Four Americas, called the new product a "natural step," noting that many FIs operate both ATM and POS networks.

Real-time review: A new product called Transaction Surveillance, demonstrated by software developer Integrated Research, will help clients determine the causes of failed or declined transactions in real-time, by allowing them to analyze transactions by acquirer, issuer and other factors, using a browser-based interface. Integrated Research's clients include switches like Fiserv and Concord EFS, as well as FIs like Wells Fargo and Citibank.

On with a different show? Several major ATM manufacturers, reportedly dissatisfied with the cost of exhibiting and the limited exposure to new prospects at large shows like Retail Delivery, are quietly trying to recruit other companies to participate in an entity that would present a series of smaller regional trade shows. The new group would, in theory, give smaller companies more equitable representation on the exhibit floor, according to a software vendor familiar with the proposal.