Wincor World to focus on overall banking, retail solutions | Features

Branch automation, end-to-end cash management, security and channel integration are expected highlights at this year’s Wincor World technology fair in Paderborn, Germany.

The annual event, hosted by Wincor Nixdorf International, this year is said to be one of the company’s largest, now that Wincor Nixdorf is making big pushes for strategic growth in international markets such as the Americas and Asia.

“This year will be different,” said Uwe Krause, Wincor Nixdorf’s banking-division marketing head. “Our solutions on the banking side are more modern and are more business-process oriented than they have been in the past. Not only are we showcasing security and hardware solutions, we are showing our consulting capabilities and tools, and this is how we are renewing the branch.”

Solutions and products, which include contributions from Wincor Nixdorf’s more than 60 global solutions partners, will highlight chain processes within the branch, from the teller to the self-service channel, Krause says.

The 2008 event, set for Jan. 29-31, also is expected to have greater U.S. representation, as Wincor Nixdorf’s push in 2007 to reach more U.S. bankers has been met with success, company executives say. In December, Wincor Nixdorf reported a 17 percent gain in net sales for the Americas.

The company’s bulk-note deposit, which began taking off in the States last year, and its mixed-deposit technology, which Wincor Nixdorf officially introduced this fall during BAI’s Retail Delivery Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, have been well received by U.S. trade media and analysts. U.S. self-service banking innovator Wells Fargo & Co. has touted high consumer adoption of Wincor Nixdorf’s bulk-note deposit technology, which Wells is using at its ATMs along the West Coast.

The backing from financial institutions like Wells, coupled with Wincor Nixdorf’s renewed marketing and sales efforts in the States, is having an impact.

“The most important thing from the banking side is to show our knowledge in banking in the business-process and solutions area,” Krause said. “That means we have built a special solutions center for marketing and sales processes, for monitoring and cash management, and the next best for channel integration. We are showing solutions for the branch, the self-service terminal and mobile banking.”

Beyond the United States, other markets, including Latin America, Sweden, India and parts of Eastern Europe, are expected to pull a substantial number of attendees. Krause says those markets, which Wincor Nixdorf has been targeting with special biometrics solutions designed for the self-service channel, are experiencing substantial growth, and Wincor Nixdorf is focusing on those markets in 2008.

“The general message is that we don’t just have products,” Krause said. “We also have services and solutions for the overall environment. We have made the migration from a product company to a services and solutions company — something we have been working toward for the last year.”

Wincor Nixdorf’s ProClassic Enterprise is the banking base upon which all end-to-end, payment, cash-handling, mobile-payment and branch solutions are based, Krause says.

“Everything today and in the future will be part of this banking solution,” he said. “It’s the center, and the highlight of the show.”

The ProClassic Enterprise suite is a service-oriented architecture that is now fully integrated.

“We are showing how we can analyze processes, how we can design branches and re-engineer branches," Krause said. "And if I can manage a bank branch, I can manage a store. We can improve the entire cash process, and that’s done by using analytical tools and improving process by using RFID technology."

A retail angle

Joachim Pinhammer, who oversees marketing for Wincor Nixdorf’s retail division, says end-to-end cash management also will be a focus on the retail side, where Wincor Nixdorf is integrating retail with banking.

“Like on the banking side, with our monitoring tools, we know exactly where the money is,” Pinhammer said. “We can manage the entire cash cycle in a way that works more efficiently. We know exactly the amount of money we need in each machine so we can reduce the amount of money in flow, and this ties in with the synergies between retailers and banks. I think retailers and banks are trying to learn from each other about how they can reach customers and improve the customer experience.”

Partners expected

at '08

Wincor World

ACI Worldwide

AHB ELECTRONIC

alphyra
Atos Worldline
Bizerba

Bütema

Cash Bases

Cisco
Concept Bankware
Datalogic Mobile
Datalogic Scanning
Dauphin
EHI Retail Institute

EL-ME

Ergonomic Solutions

Fujitsu Siemens

HESS Cash Systems
inform solutions

Ingenico

Intel

Kranz InnenArchitekten
LANDesk
MAKU
Metrologic Instruments
Mettler-Toledo
Microsoft

Milestone Systems
Motorola
Novell
Online Software
Penkiu kontinetai
ProfitBase

Retalix

SAP
Saperion
Scantech-ID

SealBase
Selecta

signotec
SOLQUEST

Sun Microsystems

TeleCash
Telekurs Card Solutions

Thales e-Transactions

transact
Transaction Printer Group
VeriFone
Visa

Building on those synergies has fueled international growth for Wincor Nixdorf in the retail sector as well.

“TP.net is an international product, and now we are launching it in the U.S.,” Pinhammer said. “We now have customers in 24 countries using it. It is a highly modern architecture that is easily customized, so it fits different retail segments and really integrates all of the processes, starting with the shopping experience of the consumer and ending with different types of automated check-out solutions.”

TP.net, which Wincor Nixdorf plans to officially introduce to the U.S. market during the National Retail Federation’s show on Jan. 13-16 in New York, is a store solution that helps retailers organize, drive and control IT flexibly.

“We see a good market for this in the U.S. because it really is a modern platform that can be easily customized,” he said.

Retail segments for which Wincor Nixdorf expects to highlight solutions include the petrol, food, general-merchandise, hospitality and postal-services segments.

All of these segments can run with one international software that is applicable on all five continents.

The payment process is the differentiator for Wincor Nixdorf, Pinhammer says.

“For payment, we have all the modern technologies that include cash payment with cash recycling and cashless payment with a normal debit or credit card or contactless payment with NFC technology,” he said. “Even with biometrics, we have a number of payment functions. All of these are seen in Europe currently.”

Pinhammer says Wincor Nixdorf’s expertise in the check-out area is the retail focus.

“We have the best of self-service check-out solutions. Mobile self-scanning, for instance, with self-service payment at a payment terminal that works with cash and cashless payments is something we know a lot about.”

Wincor Nixdorf is working with partners such as Microsoft Corp. to perfect its retail solutions for international deployments, Pinhammer says.

Other corporate partners working closely with Wincor Nixdorf on the retail side include Intel and SAP.

Learn more about Wincor World 2008.