The Spanish banking giant BBVA announced lastweek that they were going to deploy a new ATM designed to enhancethe customer experience and expand the usage of the ATM channel.The custom ATM was created in a joint project combining new designconcepts from IDEO, hardware from NCR, and software from Fujitsu.News about the BBVA program has been trickling out over the pastyear as the program has moved from a few test machines to a majorrollout of 200 machines in Spain with deployments planned over thecoming years to other countries including BBVA Compass in theUS.
The program is centered on creating a new ATM experience based oncustomer needs by moving beyond the limitations of standard ATMhardware and software. The design team from IDEO observed users atATMs and self service devices in other industries such as gas pumpsand POS self checkout stations. They created a new design and builta business case for creating a custom ATM that was both simple andintuitive to use. The new design uses the latest touch screentechnology and simplifies document handling by using one slot fordepositing and dispensing all documents including cash, checks,receipts, and passbooks.
Based on initial tests, BBVA believes they can significantly expandcustomer usage of ATMs by improving the user interface. They foundthat by simplifying the more complex teller processes, consumerswould move beyond the basic cash dispensing, inquiries, andpayments that make up more than 90% of traditional ATM transactionmix. Here in the US, we’ve seen that eliminating ATM depositenvelopes and providing check images on receipts demonstrate thatmaking deposit transactions simpler for customers can significantincreasing deposits volume.
Improving the rest of the ATM user interface is the logical nextstep. The first step in this direction became clear today when NCRannounced that JPMorgan Chase will start installing their ScalableDeposit Module (derived from the BBVA project) that allowsconsumers to deposit checks and cash simultaneously in anyorientation through a single slot. NCR claims that this featuredelivers a deposit experience twice as fast as other ATMs.
Can a touch screen be far behind?
For more information on the BBVA project:
Visit IDEO’s Web site: http://www.ideo.com/work/redefining-self-service-banking-for-bbvaReadNCR’s press release: http://www.ncr.com/about_ncr/media_information/news_releases/2011/january/20110112_bbva.jsp