Personalised ATM trials in North America and Asia-Pacific
Field trials of personalised automated teller machines (ATMs) have begun in the Asia-Pacific region and North America, using NCR's APTRA personalisation and customer relationship management (CRM) software to provide a degree of relationship marketing on the spot.
Financial self-service solutions provider, NCR Corporation, has signed up two major financial institutions for the trials, offering them the chance to boost revenues through better targeted and more relevant marketing, which NCR hopes will result in reduced costs and improved customer service and retention.
The APTRA software is designed to allow banks to deliver targeted messages and services that are interactive and customised to each individual consumer's behaviour and interest profile.
An extra channel The software connects to open CRM systems (such as BroadVision), making the ATM an intelligent touch-point for the customer. And, in conjunction with data warehousing from Teradata (a division of NCR), the ATM can become an extra communication and distribution channel to run targeted marketing and advertising campaigns, offering banks higher returns on marketing campaign investments.
The personalised ATM solution is part of NCR's broader suite of open software, aimed at re-using software components and providing consistency across multiple channels, including call centres, the web, telephone and bank branches.
Getting personal The new solution will help make the most of the usually brief customer interactions at ATMs by providing messages tailored for each customer.
For example, a 19 year-old customer may be offered a special college loan rate because the bank's database indicates he has recently graduated from high school. But the next ATM user may be nearing the pay-off of her car loan and, since the bank knows she immediately purchased a new car after paying off her last loan, the ATM could offer her a pre-approved loan for her next car.
The personalised ATM also allows the customer to define a "My Favourite" transaction. For example, if the customer routinely withdraws the same amount of cash and always wants a receipt, he can save that option, shortening transaction times - and consequently increasing ATM availability for other customers.
System architecture The APTRA software provides the personalised view on the ATM's screen and manages the interaction sequence, while the Teradata warehouse provides the repository and campaign plans, goals and rules.
With each interaction, the consumers' responses are captured and passed along to the bank's data warehouse for analysis to improve the consumers' experience on subsequent visits.
"During their banking lifetime, consumers spend hundreds of hours in front of the ATM," explained Jim Piggot, vice president of software and services for NCR's financial solutions division. "Customised messages and services can make the interaction more valuable for both the customer and the bank."
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