With ATM use on the decline in the US banks, payments companies
and ATM manufacturers are on the prowl for new revenue sources.
High on their list of priorities are self-service kiosks that are
capable of providing a myriad of services, from bill payments to
prepaid cards. Charles Davis reports.
In an era of increasing acceptance of self-service banking, it
should come as no surprise that kiosks are a hot item among banks
and payments companies. This has been highlighted by a number of
deals demonstrating the potency of kiosk solutions as the
long-awaited next step in the evolution of remote banking.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Probably the most significant of these deals was in-person bill
payment service provider CheckFreePay’s agreement with prepaid card
specialist Ready Credit. Under the agreement, CheckFreePay, now
part of financial technology vendor Fiserv, will implement the
CheckFreePay walk-in bill payment service at all Ready Credit’s
ReadyStation kiosks in the US. The bill payment service, which will
utilise payment hardware developer NCR’s EasyPoint Xpress kiosk
platform, is expected to be available in early spring 2008.
The ReadyStation, deployed at 55 retail, convenience and grocery
store locations in six states, allows consumers to purchase a fully
functional MasterCard-branded ReadyCard prepaid card. With the
integration of the CheckFreePay walk-in bill payment service, which
securely transmits payment information directly to billing
companies, consumers will also be able to pay bills with cash at
any of the kiosks.
Walk-in payments are popular
According to consultancy Aite Group, Americans make hundreds of
millions of walk-in payments each year. Consumers pay common
household bills such as utility, credit card, wireless and other
bills in person.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalData“Retailers that offer walk-in bill payments give consumers
multiple reasons to visit their store on a regular basis,” said
Paul Harrison, senior vice-president and general manager of
CheckFreePay. “Walk-in payment services have the potential to
increase foot traffic and customer loyalty, particularly when
available alongside other frequently used products in kiosks such
as the ReadyStation.”
Bill payments made at a ReadyStation can be processed the next
business day for $2.50, or through standard three-business-day
processing for $1.50. Stores already featuring ReadyStation kiosks
include those of discount merchants Dollar Tree in Atlanta and
Houston, Save-A-Lot in Milwaukee and certain stores in the
Supervalu network.
The ReadyStation kiosks represent a major installation of NCR’s
EasyPoint Xpress kiosk platform, which enables easy integration of
additional services. NCR, coming off the September spin-off of its
massive Terradata data warehouse subsidiary, has signalled a major
push into kiosks and other forms of self-service technologies.
Kiosks are also being pushed for the simple reason that as US
banks have succeeded at promoting the use of debit cards at the POS
and for receiving cash back, ATM usage and deployments have been
falling. NCR, Diebold and other major ATM makers are combining a
focus abroad on ATMs with a domestic strategy aimed at expanding
the devices used by customers.
The first kiosk
NCR developed the first kiosk, the Vcom, which is currently
installed in about 2,000 7-Eleven convenience stores. The machines
can perform standard ATM functions, as well as more complicated
services, such as cashing cheques, bill payment and money
transfers.
In June 2007, 7-Eleven sold its Vcoms, along with 3,500 standard
ATMs, to merchant ATM deployer Cardtronics, which has conceded that
it is still trying to find the right strategy to extract a profit
from the Vcoms.
The Vcom kiosks got a major boost recently, when Financial
Services Centers Co-operative (FSCC), the US’s leading credit union
shared branch network, signed a deal with Cardtronics to deliver
credit union services through the network of kiosks.
The addition of 2,000 Vcom kiosks to the shared branch network
nearly doubles the access points currently available to credit
union members. In Florida alone, the number of Vcom terminals
available more than tripled, from 196 to nearly 600. Colorado and
California more than doubled their number of available access
points, going from 100 to over 260 and from 332 to 738,
respectively. That means tens of thousands of new kiosk users
across the country.
“The combination of FSCC’s technology and the Vcom distribution
channel will revolutionise how consumers perform routine financial
transactions,” said Sarah Canepa Bang, CEO of FSCC. “We believe
members of Generation Y [aged up to about 30] will find this
channel very appealing.”
Financial management from a kiosk
Another significant player in the kiosk market is Coinstar, a
company specialising in the development and installation of
self-service equipment in the checkout areas located in the front
of retail stores. The company, which traces its origins to
coin-counting kiosks, recently joined forces with prepaid payroll
solution provider Money Network Financial to offer the Money
Network Pay Card (MNPC) through select Coinstar kiosks.
The MNPC offers underbanked consumers diverse financial
management tools including an instant-issue prepaid debit card, a
cheque writing product, a source for payroll direct deposit and a
way to pay for money transfers from the US to Latin America.
To obtain the MNPC at Coinstar kiosks, consumers select and load
funds onto a Star-branded Pay Card that is activated and instantly
available for use at more than 2 million PIN-secured debit retail
locations and ATM machines coast to coast. The single-load Star
card can be upgraded to a reloadable personalised Visa branded
prepaid card.
In addition, the MNPC products include features that provide
bank transfers, as well as paper Money Network cheques. The Money
Network cheques offer an option that permits cardholders to
withdraw up to 100 percent of their pay without incurring any
fees.
The MNPC will be distributed through Coinstar’s coin-counting
and financial services kiosks, beginning with installations in
select Albertsons grocery stores.
From gift cards to deposit services and mobile phone top-ups,
the applications for kiosks seemingly have no end, and with the US
ATM market stagnant, the do-it-all kiosk is on the top of many
financial service providers’ shopping lists.
