Epson engages leading South African financial institutions at annual Banking Forum

Epson, manufacturer of a wide range of point of sale, scanning and printing devices, recently hosted stakeholders from leading South African financial institutions at its annual Banking Forum, creating a platform for the sharing of insights into global trends and benchmarks in document scanning and management within the financial services sector.

Globally, Epson is a member of the Association of Payment Financial Professionals, NACHA (the Electronic Payments Association), the Financial Services Technology Consortium, and the NACHA Electronic Check Council, entrenching its knowledge and insights into the challenges facing the financial services sector, as increased focus is placed on fraud prevention, speed of service delivery and efficient customer management.

"The Banking Forum is a series of workshops, where we host each major financial institution separately, in a day of discussions and debates," says Albert Fayard, corporate sales manager, Epson South Africa. "These personal one-on-one sessions allow us to glean an in-depth understanding of the issues and logistics that affect the day-to-day activities in each of their banking environments. The confidential nature of the sessions makes them comfortable enough to share their individual challenges, giving us insights in how best to adapt our product offering to meet their needs."

Fayard noted that as the South African financial services sector evolves and banks' customers are demanding advanced ways to transact, Epson is in a position to assist financial institutions to stay ahead of their competitors with proven products and innovative technology. These include digital cheque capture in seconds; fast, high-volume passbook processing; bespoke security solutions; reliable and low-cost back office printing; and the ability to print eye-catching colour receipts.

One of the key touch points at the Banking Forum for all of the financial institutions was the teller environment, according to Fayard. "Tellers are the face of each bank, but they are also tasked with the immense responsibility of collecting information and filing documentation - and in overcoming the daily challenges that present themselves," he says.

"Understanding this complex mix of requirements has given Epson the insights it needs to create devices that respond directly to the needs of South Africa's banking industry," adds Fayard. "For example, our TM-S2000MJ combines double-sided colour scanning, endorsement, ink jet printing and thermal receipt printing in one quick, compact device. It scans up to 200 cheques per minute, with automatic skew correction and background noise filtering."

Cost of ownership was a key discussion point at all the Banking Forum sessions, with financial institutions continually seeking the balance between providing outstanding service, supported by the latest technology, but without adding operational costs to the bottom line.

"Epson is ever mindful of keeping costs and impact on the environment under control in the cost-conscious banking environment," says Fayard. "Optional greyscale printing reduces printing costs, while users can also reduce paper consumption by up to 30%, by choosing the appropriate settings.

"The devices also have a small footprint - a key consideration in the small workstation space allocated to each teller," adds Fayard. "Tellers are expected to be efficient and fast, and able to perform a wide variety of tasks, each of which is completed by a different item of technology. Epson's devices are multifunctional, and include scanning, printing and data transmission capabilities, reducing the clutter at a workstation, while boosting the teller's efficiency.

"Epson's understanding of the banking environment globally has seen our solutions contributing to the streamlining and efficiency of financial services, including facilitating the instantaneous clearing of funds deposited in the form of a cheque. Local legislation still prevents this, but delegates at the Banking Forum were excited that Epson's scanning technology meets the extremely high standards set by European and American financial regulators."

Delegates attending the Banking Forum sessions valued the insights shared by Epson's team, finding the information about global banking systems and how Epson's technology responds to evolving trends in the international marketplace particularly valuable.

"Epson values the opportunity to engage with South Africa's leading financial institutions, and we appreciate the time that the delegates spent with us," says Fayard. "Engaging in meaningful dialogue about local and global banking environments created an environment in which we could all focus on the issues that are top of mind for local businesses."