Dubai: NCR Corporation launched on Tuesday technologies for the banking, retail and travel industries for the first time in the region. The US-based company manufactures automated teller machines (ATMs) and provides software for those.
In January, Emirates NBD launched the interactive teller machines in partnership with NCR in Dubai Mall. NCR is also in talks to roll out the product at other banks.
The machine, which authenticates users’ identity through the scanning of their Emirates ID, allows them to make transactions, such as dispensing cash, with a teller via video.
Now, NCR has introduced the Interactive Banker for the first time in the region. “We don’t have any customers [for the Interactive Banker],” said Habib Hanna, NCR’s area managing director of the South Gulf and Pakistan, at a press conference in Dubai. He said the company is in talks with banks but declined to provide any names.
The Interactive Banker is a software that is downloaded to a tablet, which is connected to a kiosk at a bank. Through the tablet, customers can contact a teller to help with the completion of a transaction.
Globally, cash withdrawals from ATMs was up 10 per cent last year over 2012, says Stelios Fragkos, NCR’s vice president of financial industry for Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
“Globally, cash dispenses are increasing faster than digital payments,” he said. However, he pointed out that digital payments grew by 8.5 per cent in 2013 over the previous year. Non-cash payments is valued at around $333 billion. “40 per cent of those are direct debit and about 10 per cent is mobile payments,” he said.
In terms of retail technologies, NCR launched the NCR Self Service Check Out, a machine which allows users to scan their purchases and pay by cash, coins and cards. It also launched the NCR RealScan 79 Bi-Optic Imager and the NCR RealPOS XR7.
The company also introduced a self-service check-in app for travellers. It is used by scanning a bar code, which travellers receive upon inputting an e-ticket number, onto a kiosk. NCR also showcased the Wayfinding Solution, a terminal that helps travellers navigate themselves around the airport, such as determining which counter to go to.
