Swedbank Gains Assistance In Its Multichannel Banking Strategy

Swedbank is working to implement a multichannel banking strategy across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The Swedish bank is looking to address customer demand for technology and online tools when they bank, while also educating and encouraging other consumers who are not using technology-based banking services.

To achieve its goals, Swedbank has extended its 20-year relationship with transaction-technologies provider NCR Corp. NCR will provide its Aptra Edge software to help the bank roll out applications across its network of NCR ATMs in 206 branches in the region, the companies announced May 12.

NCR also plans to work with partner Hansab, to upgrade more than 150 of Swedbank’s older NCR ATMs with the latest NCR SelfServ 22, 25 and 31 units. The cash recycling capabilities included with those upgrades, the companies said, will help Swedbank reduce costs by decreasing the number of cash deliveries required at branches and the time spent on cash management by branch staff. Hansab also will continue to maintain NCR ATMs for Swedbank in all three countries.

“Responding to customer demand for an increasingly technology-based service, as well as educating them on the benefits of modern banking channels, is fundamental to our business,” Mihkel Roosme, Swedbank head of multichannel management division, said in a statement. “To ensure that our multichannel banking strategy delivers on this, we needed a highly integrated software and hardware solution. We have partnered with NCR for more than 20 years, so they are tuned in to our business and provide the high value solutions that turn our strategy into a reality.”

Apstra Edge is part of software suite of software designed to improve security, ATM management and customer relationships. It uses a Windows-based XFS interface, facilitating an open software environment and making it vendor-independent.

“As consumers become increasingly aware of convenient technology-based banking channels, financial institutions, such as Swedbank, have responded to deliver on that multichannel banking experience,” Joe Gallagher, vice president and general manager of self-service and converged channel software at NCR Financial Services, said in a statement. “To achieve this, a fine balance of software and hardware must be carefully implemented to provide the desired customer experience. We are proud to have worked with Swedbank over so many years as it has evolved into the region’s leading bank, and we will continue to help them make everyday transactions easier for their customers.”

In January, lack of interest among both consumers and retailers led Swedbank to pull the plug on its Bart mobile-payment service. A year earlier, it separated its digital banking services from its main business in response to changes in customer behavior and needs, as fewer customers were using branch offices and instead wanted complete banking services available over digital channels.