Secrets of effective cash management

As central bank interest rates rise and cash handling costs grow, the topic of cash management is getting a great deal of play across the banking and retail industries. To maximize savings, organizations are also seeking solutions that increase efficiency throughout the system — i.e., end to end.

To learn more about what end-to-end cash management has to offer, ATM Marketplace got in touch with Terry Duffy, general manager of digital first banking software and services, at NCR Corp. The company's managed services business unit provides cash forecasting and optimization for more than 250,000 cashpoints; its cash management solutions serve a global customer base with individual estates ranging from 100 machines to more than 100,000.

Q: 'End-to-end' cash management is getting a lot of attention now, but what does it mean?

A: End-to-end cash management has different meanings depending on your perspective, whether you're a financial institution, a cash in transit company or even a central bank. Because the cash distribution cycle is extremely complicated and operations are driven by very tight schedules, an end-to-end process is the definition of meeting cash demand in a timely manner.

Q: A lot of cash management is still done in Excel. Why is a purchased solution so much better?

A: Because an end-to-end cash management solution reduces costs associated with cash distribution, enables automation and provides visibility to all key cash stakeholders—that's why it's getting a lot of attention. But most of all, solutions like these provide the agility and flexibility you need to dynamically modify cash orders (and hence reduce cost) against unpredictability surrounding economic conditions and other events.

Q: How big does an ATM fleet have to be to see a financial return on a cash management solution?

A: While we firmly believe every financial institution could benefit from the inherent automation that a cash management solution can provide, sometimes the decision depends on IT resource availability. The critical factor is not really the number of ATMs but the transaction volume those ATMs are experiencing.

At NCR, we conduct a business review at the outset to identify where actual savings can be expected by implementing our cash management solution.How important is end-to-end cash management in branch transformation, and why?

Cash management plays a key role in delivering outstanding customer experiences. As more and more financial institutions automate their teller functions by moving them to self-service devices, their future success depends on those devices being always "on" and that cash is always available—so end-to-end cash management is fundamental to any branch transformation project.

Q: Can other types of self-service devices besides ATMs (e.g., teller cash machines) be managed from the same solution?

A: Yes. Any device that dispenses or accepts cash can be managed by the solution. For this very reason, and because of the convergence between banking and retailers, NCR's solution will be available for the retail industry, too.

Q: Aside from the obvious — cost savings — what value does a cash management solution offer the user?

A: There are so many benefits! While the most obvious are the savings, other considerations are: cash out avoidance — customer experience; automation — branch staff focus; flexibility — dynamic and automatic daily cash adjustments; compliance — central bank mandates; tracking — knowing where your cash inventory is at any time.

Q: There are many, many cash management solutions on the market; what features should a deployer look for in choosing one?

A: A couple things come to mind. Number one is commercial flexibility. Just because someone deploys on-premise now doesn't mean that will always be the strategy. So, look for a deployer that has multiple deployment options to ensure business continuity isn't jeopardized (NCR supports both an SaaS and a managed services model).

Number two is the ability to model cash situations. The NCR solution has a built-in simulator allowing users to quickly determine the impact of a "what-if" situation, such as, "What if I reduce my replenishment frequencies? How does that impact cost?" This tool must be easy to use for maximum benefit.

Number three is automatic forecast adjustments — cost management is a direct result of having a good forecast and reliable data. A tool must be in the position to alert you when a forecast is becoming skewed. This saves hours and hours of analyst time to evaluate those outlier situations and determine whether it's a one-off or requires further attention.

Does NCR offer à la carte cash management solutions that let the user customize features to a specific situation, or scale up as the business grows?

A:Yes, NCR's solution is modular by design, so customers can deploy as needed. For example, we have customers who required a vault management solution and then moved to a cash managed solution for the ATM and branch. Our approach is consultative, and we work very closely with our clients to determine the best strategy for them.

Q: How "future proof" is the solution?

A: Very. Like any software solution, the application is managed through a tight product lifecycle process with the appropriate investments to ensure the solution not only exceeds customer requirements but also remains current with the latest technologies and developments. We also provide a customization service to allow for localization and unique customer requests.

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Cash Management Solutions from NCR NCR's Cash Optimization Management solution portfolio helps financial institutions and cash processors transform their businesses and deliver outstanding consumer experiences in a world where future success depends on always "on" services and where cash is always available.Learn More