Branch Software Helps Tellers to Dispense Cash
To improve teller service, Midlantic National Bank and American Savings Bank are using software that links cash-dispensing machines with branch automation systems.
The software speeds up the dispensing of cash, and eliminates errors that can occur when tellers must rekey information to request cash.
Using a single keystroke, tellers can deliver cash withdrawals to customers in as little as five seconds instead of the previous 30 seconds, according to Midlantic officials. With cash dispensed automatically from the system, tellers do not need to count it.
The software link can help banks cope high teller turnover, or part-time workers, said Colleen Lee, product manager at ISC-Bunker Ramo, Shelton, Conn.
At some large banks, each teller is out of balance between $400 and $500 a day, and must spend an hour or more reconciling the accounts, she said.
Productivity Boost Foreseen
Midlantic expects to improve the productivity of its tellers by 25%.
Midlantic is using the first link between a cash dispensing machine and an Aladdin branch automation system from ISC-Bunker Ramo.
American Savings bank - based in White Plains, N.Y. - is using a similar software link between cash dispensing functions and its Pinnacle system, also from ISC-Bunker Ramo. Other banks are looking at the software, according to Ms. Lee.
Midlantic is testing the software at four drive-in stations, where it is used by two tellers at its Sparta, N.J., branch. The Edison, N.J.-based bank plans to install the system in another branch this fall. If the test is successful, the bank will begin rolling out the system to all its busiest branches by yearend, said Gail Gerega, retail automation analyst at Midlantic.
Room for Upgrading
Typically, cash dispensers and teller terminals operate independently. The teller must access the mainframe through the teller terminal to view and debit the customer's account, then type in the debit amount again at the dispenser and give the customer the cash. At the end of the day, the teller must balance the transactions logged at the teller terminal and those logged at the cash dispenser.
The new system links the cash dispenser to the branch controller by personal computer. The dispenser can check with the mainframe to verify that there is enough money in the account to pay the withdrawal.
Midlantic is using a cash dispensing system from Inter Innovation LeFebure, Cedar Rapids, Idaho.
