ABSA Bank, South Africa - An NCR Case Study

One of the key objectives of Absa Bank was to identify opportunities to grow its value by accessing new markets across multiple delivery channels.

With customers firmly at the forefront of this strategy, maximizing both the availability and the breadth of the services it offers was crucial. Absa believes that the ATM is fundamental to help it achieve this.

Prior to its decision to upgrade, over 80% of Absa’s ATM network was more than ten years old, compromising the functionality, convenience and choice that the bank was delivering to its customers. A prime example of this was the use of envelopes to deposit cash and checks, which, due to the back-office processing required, delayed the time customers could gain access to deposited cash by up to 48 hours.

The negative effect that its aging network was having on the customer experience was, in turn, seriously undermining customer loyalty as well as damaging its brand image and its ability to be seen as South Africa’s leading innovative bank.

Absa knew this had to change, and quickly, as customers continued to demand more than just cash from the ATM channel. To deliver the services their customers needed, wherever and whenever they needed them, Absa was looking to maximize its offering at the ATM and migrate as many transactions and services as possible to that channel.