NCR introduces APTRA Interactive Teller to transform branch banking experience in SA

NCR Interactive Teller.

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At the ATMIA "Emerging New Africa" show, NCR Corporation in collaboration with Bytes Managed Solutions, today launched NCR APTRA Interactive Teller, a new ATM-based technology that makes everyday banking transactions easier for customers by allowing them to complete more than 95% of typical branch transactions at the ATM assisted by a live remote teller, well beyond operating branch hours.

NCR APTRA Interactive Teller will help banks in South Africa and throughout the sub-Saharan region to take a new approach to grow their geographic footprint and focus on transforming their branch location into a more effective service and sales environment.

It will allow banks to offer after-hours full teller services in areas that are not served by branches, while taking advantage of the advanced features of NCR ATMs such as intelligent deposit, bill pay, new account opening and loan initiations.

Beyond talking to a teller, Interactive Teller offers more services than can be conducted on an ATM or other self-service devices. For instance, customers can perform secure transactions without using a traditional ATM card and, like branch tellers, remote tellers can provide customers access to cash in their accounts in amounts over the standard ATM daily cash withdrawal limits. An internal study done by NCR shows that the implementation of NCR's interactive video technology can result in a 33% reduction in transaction time and 40% savings for the cost-per-transaction, as compared with a branch teller transaction.

"Bank branches remain an important selling tool and revenue driver for financial institutions, but they are costly and make it difficult for banks to expand their footprint. NCR APTRA Interactive Teller is a solution to the challenges around expansion and provision of banking services to the unbanked populations in rural areas, helping banks to augment their branch footprint, deliver teller services to underserved areas and provide their branch promises," said Constantinos Koudounias, director of AMEA marketing, NCR Corporation.

In addition, NCR showcased a host of other innovative banking technologies at this year's ATMIA conference including NCR APTRA OptiCash - a cash cost optimisation application that balances demand for currency at each cash point against operational expenses. By optimising all competing float and transportation costs daily, OptiCash enables banks to generate huge annual savings from their existing ATM and branch networks, and prevent cash outages and apply cash only when and where needed. By applying sophisticated mathematics, OptiCash drives higher availability with less cash across the entire currency supply chain.