Since the EMV liability shift to ATM owners was enforced in early 2006, EMV acquiring compliance has become a key imperative for banks, who are now liable for any fraudulent transactions performed on non-EMV compliant (non chip-and-pin accepting) ATMs.  A large portion of the client’s ATM fleet was non-compliant, resulting in fraud losses totalling millions of Rands.

In addition to EMV acquiring compliance, the existing African ATM service offering needed a revamp to improve the ATM screens and introduce new service offerings such as real-time cash deposits and instant money. The improved screens would provide a host of services and offerings to create value for the bank’s customers.

This is in line with the bank’s strategic goal to shift customers from branches to ATMs and from there to digital channels; to provide customers with greater access to products and services, at significantly lower effort, with more convenience and more cost-effectively.

The new ATM functionality allows for convenience as customers can transact outside of traditional bank branch hours, access more self-service options and have cardless ATM access:

• Through real-time cash deposits, customers can deposit money at an ATM, which is credited immediately to their bank accounts and can be done outside of traditional bank branch hours
• Instant money enables customers to withdraw cash from an ATM without the need for a bank account or the use of a card
• Self-service allows for real-time deposit-taking at ATMs

• Shift in customer channel usage from branches to ATMs to digital channels; due to improved customer convenience and access through deployment of new ATM service offerings, self-service channels and services previously only available at a branch
• Increased customer base through financial inclusion, resulting from the introduction of new services
• Increased trust in the brand through reduced card fraud and interoperability as a result of the EMV compliance
• Reduced AMT maintenance costs and efforts due to uniformity of hardware across African operations
• Increased customer access through significantly reduced downtime of the ATM network, as a result of the hardware and software upgrades
• Lower operating costs due to increased operational efficiency across Africa through standardisation of operations
• Faster deployment in-country of new products and services through easier installation, faster boot up times and full support for the latest touch screen technology through Windows 7

This project encompassed true partnerships with all the relevant stakeholders from the bank, vendors and client countries. The BML approach, together with the team’s ability to build effective relationships, aided the delivery of this project and future initiatives.

While enabling EMV ATM acquiring compliance and enhancing customer experience were significant benefits for the client, a more significant benefit for the bank was how access to instant money was the first interaction with the formal banking infrastructure for many users, driving financial inclusion.

The ATM cash deposit solution has also enabled the bank to address the high costs associated with running and maintaining branch infrastructure as a deposit-taking channel.  Utilising alternative channels for cash-related transactions, not requiring high-end advice and interactions with customers, is key for the client.