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Banking on the Kiosk
With over 1.2 million ATM's installed around the globe, the lowly non-cash/ATM financial kiosk rests in shadows. Nevertheless, financial institutions continue to look towards interactive kiosks to provide a growing list of services, and why not? Many are finding the interactive kiosk to be a powerful and low cost delivery tool in an increasingly competitive landscape. Self-service kiosks provide the link between meeting with your old banker friend, and an integrated retail delivery and customer relationship management (CRM) strategy so important to the progressive financier.
The industry association Kiosks.org has estimated that financial related self-service kiosks comprise at least 10% of the self-service market, and expected growth figures for the next few years are close to 40%. With a buzz of uncertainty surrounding the future of financial kiosks, we set out to look for "what's to come" in the world of financial kiosks.
Spearheading a new generation of financial service kiosks is Charlotte, NC- based kiosk provider Source Technologies. Over the past several years the company has risen through the ranks of the kiosk world with the development of a proprietary line of kiosks offering everything from bill payments services for the unbanked, to a kiosk system that has over fifteen non-cash transaction capabilities.
In speaking with Source's president Miles Busby, we discovered that his company is betting big that this market is ready for takeoff. "Nearly 50% of our business is now dedicated to the financial kiosk area," noted Busby. "We see the market for conducting self-service financial transactions is growing significantly."
Busby believes this growth is the combination of many factors, but leading his list is customer acceptance of this technology. "Even back several years ago there were too many issues with developing these types of devices because of software and security issues. But today, these devices are working nice and we know customers will use these things," Busby remarked.
Source Technologies' main customer is a group who has been overlooked for quite a while, the credit union. The company believes that financial kiosks have the capability to deliver expansion potential for credit unions without requiring tremendous investments. "Finally, credit unions have a device that allows them to compete with bigger banks," stated Busby.
The new Financial Kiosk Terminal Source Technologies has developed is the mother of the all-in-one kiosk/ATM's. Their ST-3200 Walk-up unit features the ability to do standard ATM transactions, plus: check cashing, money transfers, cash deposits, check printing, money orders, statement printing, couponing, and ticketing.
The ST-3200, from a hardware standpoint, features a 15" touchscreen (optional 21") and many other options such as MPEG full motion video, voice and audio capabilities, a digital camera, and even a phone center.
To get to the heart of what Busby was saying, we contacted New Jersey-based Paragon Services, Inc. Paragon is a credit union service organization (CUSO), which is owned by a credit union. The group is in the midst of developing an alternative-banking kiosk for credit unions.
"We already knew ATM's were out there working so we trusted the potential of the technology, but kiosks provide so many more services in an automated environment. We saw the kiosk as a huge cost savings potential vs. building new locations," said Charles O' Gorman, director of business development for Paragon Services, Inc.
The kiosk Paragon is planning has been designed around an employee group or union, who can place a kiosk where employees have an alternative to long lines or an inconvenient bank location. The kiosk will have most of the major functions of a live teller, plus being available 24/7, and will be much less expense than building an entire new branch bank.
Top 10 Reasons to Consider a Kiosk for Your Bank
- Migrate customers from teller-based transactions to on-line banking to reduce costs.
- Enhance customer satisfaction by providing needed Web-based services in the branch office.
- Increase revenue and "share of wallet" by offering additional products and services via cross-sell and up-sell opportunities.
- Acquire new customers via sign-up/opening an account.
- Educate new and existing customers about service & product offering.
- Initiate and provide rewards in the form of loyalty.
- Provide service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in centralized locations.
- Learn more about customer preferences by collecting vital data.
- Provide additional training and educational services to employees.
- Bridge language barriers with non-English speaking customers.
Source Technologies provides integrated solutions that manage financial transactions and other secure business processes. Products include disbursement software and MICR laser printers for check printing, and the CONCOURSE™ family of kiosks and software for self-service banking. We serve hundreds of financial institutions including nine of the Top Ten US Banks.
Visit us at www.sourcetech.com or call (800) 922-8501.
First published on BankersOnline.com 1/24/05
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