Diebold’s Business to FI Innovations

By Jeffrey Green (@epaymentsguy)

Diebold Inc., which recently launched various innovative ATM and branch-automation products, last month hit the road with a series of “ThinkBOLD” events to tout the products to existing and potential customers.

The next promotional event takes place April 30 in Kansas City with a broad discussion of the ThinkBOLD initiative. Diebold plans to hold various other events this spring and summer through August. Among Diebold’s endorsement partners is the California Bankers Association, which has hosted several earlier ThinkBOLD Branch Transformation seminars.

Among the various new products and services Diebold is touting during the events include:

Branch Transformation

Diebold has been busy signing on financial institutions to improve their branch-transformation strategies, including with Fifth Third Bank, First Citizens National Bank in Tennessee and Vantage West Credit Union.

Fifth Third was the first customer to roll out Diebold’s mixed-media deposit automation solution, and Diebold is helping First Citizens implement a branch-transformation strategy that includes deposit automation and in-lobby teller technology within the branch. Diebold’s effort at Vantage West similarly includes converting the financial institution into a teller-less branch using a variety of branch-transformation technology, Andreas Walter Mattes, Diebold president and CEO, noted during a recent conference call with analysts.

Diebold also is having success outside the U.S. with the initiative, Mattes said on the call, citing as an example a partnership with UniCredit in Italy to add cash-recycling capabilities to the bank’s ATM fleet.

“The movement toward branch transformation is also having a positive impact in the [Europe/Middle East/Africa] market and has provided us with a renewed opportunity to expand our presence there,” he said.

“Given that this is new technology, the doors have reopened, and we are in with four of the five major banks in the U.K. that we did not have any footprint in before,” he said.

Cardless ATMs

In March, Diebold announced new mobile-based ATM from that enables consumers to complete self-service transactions and make retail purchases without using physical debit or credit cards.

Diebold Federal Credit Union recently began piloting the world’s first ATM without a card reader or PIN pad that relies solely on mobile authentication, which can be seen in a demonstration video here.

When a consumer scans a QR code at the ATM using a smartphone, the ATM authenticates the user via cloud-hosted services to enable secure, cardless transactions. With no card or PIN required, the solution eliminates the threats of card skimming and shoulder surfing at the ATM.

Diebold and white-label mobile-wallet provider Paydiant developed the cross-channel solutions and hold complementary patents on the technologies, the companies said in the product announcement.

Energy-Conserving ATM

Also in March, Diebold announced a new ATM that uses almost half as much energy to run as other models by running on an “intelligent” power-management system that selects the most conservative power source available.

“The Diebold 429 ATM was designed, developed and manufactured in India to meet the government’s inclusion initiatives to expand banking services across India,” said Wico van Genderen, vice president, Diebold Asia Pacific. “Our unique intelligent power management system, low power consumption, advanced performance and security features are a perfect fit for the needs of both the environment and the consumers.

While the ATM targets India, it could be a viable solution in many countries where electricity provision is fickle and ATMs are often too costly a solution.