NCR Renews Agreement To Manage Indian ATM Network

NCR Corp. announced this week the renewal of an agreement to manage HDFC, a Mumbai, India-based bank ATM network. Dayton, Ohio-based NCR also said HDFC Bank, one of India' first privately held banks, also has agreed to purchase 300 ATMs from NCR for an undisclosed price. "Customer behavior conclusively demonstrates a significant shift in transactions to the ATM, arguably positioning the ATM as the channel of highest customer usage," Rahul Bhagat, HDFC's business head for direct banking channels, said in a statement. According to the new management agreement, NCR will manage HDFC's network of 2,000 ATMs for 42 months. NCR's previous deal with the bank was for 36 months. The contract calls for NCR to perform ATM incident management, which includes remote monitoring of ATM error codes sent to NCR's help desk. The codes allow NCR personnel to determine the level of service needed to repair the machine. NCR also will provide first- and second-line maintenance. First-line maintenance means NCR will monitor the ATMs to detect problems. NCR's ATMs now can reboot themselves, fixing the problem. With second-line maintenance, NCR will send a technician out to the machines to perform repairs. NCR also will manage the ATMs' cash. HDFC, established in 1994 under the Reserve Bank of India's liberalization of the Indian banking industry, has 754 branches in 327 cities. The Reserve Bank is India's central bank.