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PLUS-Forum Cash Circulation + Self-service. Banking and Retail. First results
Key events of PLUS-Forum Cash Circulation + Self-service. Banking and Retail
Cash-in-transit companies are forced to revise their tariff policy. This was stated by Alexey Voylukov, Vice-President of the Association of Banks of Russia, who opened the first session “Cash Circulation Strategy. The most important global and Russian trends in 2021–2025. Cash Circulation on its way to technological sovereignty”. According to the expert, the volume of cash in circulation has been growing in recent months again, while CIT companies have been facing higher costs. In this context, players in the CIT services market must revise their existing business models towards optimization, and they have to change their current pricing tariffs as well.
One of the main Bank of Russia’s tasks is not to lose the development pace of new technology, said Vladimir Demidenko, Deputy Director of the Bank of Russia Cash Circulation Department, in his speech at the first session of the PLUS-Forum.
The regulator is taking a number of steps to do this. For example, the Cash Circulation Council was set up in 2021. According to the speaker, “we also involve equipment manufacturers in our work, we elaborate on issues with vending and retail. We are discussing ways to solve the new technology availability issue.”
The Bank of Russia continues testing equipment for 100-ruble notes. The initial list of equipment adapted to operate with new 100 RUB banknotes should appear on the Bank of Russia website in September, said Vladimir Demidenko. According to him, “the work is in full swing”. There are already machines available that are fully adapted to handle new banknotes based on machine-readable features.
Given the dropping share of cash in retail trade, the cash turnover is increasingly shifting towards the ATM network, which is beginning to act as the main cash circulation market. This conclusion was made by Aleksey Ponomarenko, Senior Managing Director, Department Director at the Cash Circulation Management Center, Sberbank of Russia. According to him, cash is “in self-organized circulation around ATMs”, and with the total revenue in retail being about 9.5 trillion rubles in 2021, more than 50 trillion rubles passed through ATMs.
Since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, depositing of cash through ATMs into the bank accounts of individuals has increased substantially. Independent expert Konstantin Khotkin shared this information. Touching upon the situation in the Russian cash circulation market, he noted that over the past ten years, the volume of cash transactions has remained virtually unchanged in the Russian Federation, while in terms of the transactions number, non-cash payments are leading substantially.
“The Cash Circulation Association is working on the technological independence of the industry,” said Elena Melanich, Chairman of the Board of the Cash Circulation Association. According to the speaker, the independence can be achieved thanks to such key areas as analytics, supplier relations development and industry product management.
Fr om being the “number one” payment means cash has turned into a back-up payment method. Georgy Kornilov, Director of the Scientific Research Institute, Goznak branch, made this conclusion in his presentation “Cash in a changing payment landscape”. As the speaker noted, we have evidenced a fundamental change in the role and function of cash over the past decade. Banknotes in the Russian Federation are merely used to pay for goods and services, while people still possess significant amounts of cash as a kind of “reserve payment system”. In conclusion, the speaker pinpointed a significant decrease in counterfeiting volume, associated, in his opinion, with the migration of crime to more profitable and safe criminal activity areas.
The growing share of cash has become a problem for the mint industry. At the same time, retail suffers from the deficit of coins, which often remain in the hands of individuals, stated Mikhail Belousov, General Director of Veles-Express. According to the speaker, the current situation causes an inevitable increase in tariffs for cash transportation, which do not grow as fast as costs, and then it results in peak loads, as well as in revision of logistics automation approaches due to a growing number of customers working through ADM (Automated Depositing Machines).
New 100-ruble notes will go to mass circulation after setting up banking equipment, reported Tatyana Alexandrova, Head of Banknotes and Counterfeiting Prevention Department, Bank of Russia, opening the second session “Cash in new realities. Technology and business. Search for breakthrough solutions”. Mrs. Alexandrova devoted her speech to the features of the new 100-ruble banknote, including its design and security elements. As she noted, such key document as the “Cash Circulation Development Strategy 2021–2025” stipulates a phased modernization of Russian banknotes in six denominations.
More than half of Russians claim they cannot do without cash. Alexey Fomichev, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors for Technology, Sales Director at Gamma Center, said. According to him, over the past 10 years Russia has become a recognized leader in the card payments growth.
The further cost of cash circulation will grow, predicted Vladimir Ulikhin, CEO of DIIP 2000.
According to the expert, the problems in the cash circulation logistics associated with the tightening of anti-Russian sanctions and, primarily, with the departure of a number of equipment and solution suppliers from the Russian market, including from the cash-in-transit services segment, will directly affect pricing in retail.
Sber will install about 100 Linux-based ATMs by the end of 2022, said Konstantin Podvalny, Director of the Self-service Device Network Management Division at Sberbank of Russia. According to him, Sber started looking for responses to current challenges 10 years ago: “The bank with its ATM network had more than a hundred decision-making points. We reduced their number to fourteen as per the number of territorial banks, and improved the standardization.”
The key tasks of banks today are effective cash management and electronic interaction with government agencies, Alexey Timonin, Head of Analytical Department at Softclub-SX, a software developer for banks, noted in his speech. The company has been operating on the Russian market since 2007, while one third of the top 10 Russian banks use their solutions.
During the PLUS-Forum Softclub-SX presented its main product line, including:
- SC-Cash — information and analytical system for managing and controlling the bank’s cash flows;
- SX documents GO — system for registration and processing of documents and orders of government authorities;
- Other in-house solutions
The future lies with the use of hybrid cloud solutions for monitoring ATM and POS networks. This message became the key talking point in the speech of Sergey Kulbak, Director of Corporate Sales, ITV. The speaker paid special attention to the company’s solutions in organizing an ATM network control system without dependence on hardware components, as well as to ITV hybrid cloud solutions for retail, which can significantly improve business efficiency.
How does the gold-mat, operation of which was demonstrated to the visitors of the PLUS-Forum, differ from a usual vending machine? Why is this globally unparalleled solution of a Russian vendor, whose strategic partner is JSC Goznak, so attractive for banks and other players in the individual financial services market today? Dmitry Plushchevsky, Goldex Robot Founder and Director of Business Development, gave answers to these and other equally relevant questions. According to his data, today the volume of old jewelry gold sales (rings, chains, earrings, etc.) in Russia exceeds 75 billion rubles annually. However, if selling gold became easier, more convenient and psychologically more comfortable, then the sales volume would be much higher than the mentioned 75 billion rubles. In this context, Mr. Plushchevsky spoke about a new project, the essence of which is to automate the process of selling, as well as evaluating and buying up precious metals from people using the “gold-mat”, a special hardware solution that has no analogues on the global market. The uniqueness of the device lies primarily in the technology, which allows assaying the composition, hallmark and weight of the product in just 3-4 minutes. Numerous visitors of the PLUS-Forum exhibition, who showed particular interest in the novelty, could see this with their own eyes.
Gold can become an alternative to savings in currencies for individuals, says Irina Lozinskaya, Vice President, Head of Precious Metals Operations at Lanta-Bank. This is possible because gold has a protected asset status, as it is not tied to any currency and is mined in different countries.
The cash circulation market is in for a major transformation. Such conclusions were reached by the participants of the round table “Cash circulation in the context of cash handling under the changed environment”, which took place during the third session of the first day of the 13th International PLUS-Forum “Cash Circulation + Self-Service. Banking and Retail”.
Among the participants of the round table, moderated by Sergey Barsukov, Chairman of the Cash Circulation Committee, Association of Corporate Treasurers, were representatives of various market segments and of the regulator: Vladimir Demidenko, Deputy Director of the Cash Circulation Department, Bank of Russia, Olga Chudina, Head of the Treasury and Corporate Finance Department, Svyaznoy, Alexander Katanov, Financial Director, Verny retail chain, Mikhail Belousov, General Director, Veles-Express, Nadezhda Malyuh, Operations Director, ROSINKAS, Alexey Ponomarenko, Senior Managing Director and Director of Cash Circulation Management Center, Sberbank, Sergey Konychev, Leader of Transactional Products Business Division, Otkritie Bank, Nadezhda Proshina, Deputy Head of Standard Settlement Products Department, Gazprombank, Maxim Manchenko, First Deputy Head, FSUE CCCB and Nikolay Solomentsev, Commercial Director, INKAKHRAN.
The experts discussed topical issues of cash circulation development in Russia.
By the end of 2023, 90% of Sber’s ATM fleet will be migrated to a self-developed Linux-based OS. Valery Tolkachev, Managing Director, IT Department, Sales Network block, Sberbank of Russia, announced it opening the second day of the 13th International PLUS-Forum “Cash Circulation + Self-Service. Banking and Retail”.
Sber assigns a special place in the technological independence issue to its in-house software solutions. The speaker analyzed the Sber Digital Platform’s capabilities, which the largest Russian bank is currently switching to, in terms of ensuring technological independence from vendors, improving the customer service quality and the accessibility level of the self-service device network.
Phygital is changing the focus in bank branch positioning and utilization, emphasized Elena Tyatenkova, Head of Network Management Department, Alfa-Bank. As the speaker noted, within the framework of the Phygital concept, Alfa-Bank developed and created a new format of branches, which implies the integration of a mobile application with an electronic queue system and a single front-end. A separate role is played by the Face ID system, which helps to instantly recognize clients coming to branches and to start offering personalized services.
Alexander Korshunov, Director of the Payment Cards Department, Retail Business Department, and Gennady Bugrov, Senior Managing Director for the Development of New Client Service Formats, Digital Retail Business Department, Promsvyazbank, spoke about the capabilities of the Digital Self-Service Office as a new sales channel for Promsvyazbank.
According to the speakers, the digital office based on the BFS solution is comparable in its functionality to the traditional bank office. At the same time, it can be integrated with a regular bank branch, significantly expanding the list of products and services offered there. This provides a fundamentally new level of flexibility and mobility to the bank’s service infrastructure, while simultaneously optimizing costs of opening new branches and making it possible to be present even in those locations wh ere setting up a traditional office is impossible or economically unprofitable. The digital office plays a special role in such an important area as improving the clients’ financial literacy.
Visitors to the PLUS-Forum exhibition had an individual opportunity to see the PSB digital office in operation.
Promsvyazbank presented a digital banking office at the PLUS-Forum exhibition.
Nikita Tsurkanenko, Head of Strategic Projects at Gamma Center, shared the new experience of the company in developing client software under sanctions. In his speech, he analyzed in detail the difficulties they have been encountering in this area and ways to overcome them.
How to manage cash flow based on Big Data? Pavel Ignatkin, Director of the Department of Cash and CIT Services, Rosbank, gave comprehensive answers to this question in his speech.
According to Mr. Ignatkin, the pilot project, implemented by Rosbank at the very beginning of 2022, which involved about 50 cash-out only ATMs installed in one region, showed a decrease in the service cost, including a reduction in the amount of cash returned to the cash desk.
Currently it is expected, that with the further development of the project, this initiative will allow the bank to save several hundred million rubles.
New Hyosung ATM-recyclers accepting and dispensing new Russian 100-ruble banknotes were presented by Hyosung Russia at the exhibition of the 13th International PLUS-Forum “Cash Circulation + Self-Service. Banking and Retail”. According to Nikolai Malyar, Hyosung Russia’s Deputy Head of Software Department, they have recently obtained recognition templates for the new Russian banknote from Hyosung’s parent company. During the exhibition, the PLUS-Forum participants and delegates were able to verify visually the correct operation of Hyosung self-service devices with the Bank of Russia’s new banknote, both in their cash-in and cash-out functionality. The company plans to ensure handling of the new 100-ruble banknote not only on flagship devices, but also on the entire line of their recyclers supplied to Russia.
Alexander Leshchev, Head of Self-service Systems Development Department, Alfa-Bank discussed key moments of the ATM menu evolution. In his speech, he shared the bank’s best practices in developing customer experience based on its ATM network.
Participants of the September Forum discussed the future market for self-service banking devices during the fifth session of the conference. A lively discussion took place within the framework of the same-named round table, held on the second day of the 13th International PLUS-Forum “Cash Circulation + Self-Service. Banking and Retail”.
Among the participants of the round table, moderated by Artem Zhilonov, CEO at BFS, were representatives of various market segments, as well as of the regulator: Alexander Dubovik, Head of Processing Department, Bank of Russia, Pavel Vlasov, Head of Directorate, Payment Systems Department, Tinkoff Bank, Vitaly Nikiforov, Deputy CEO, Sales Director, Kheson RUS, Yuri Sivakov, Head of the Instrument Engineering Department, Goznak, Dmitry Alekseev, CEO, ATMoSfera, Elena Vorobyeva, Deputy Chairman of the Board, INKAHRAN, and Konstantin Khotkin, Independent Expert. The experts discussed the current situation with the imported ATMs supply in the self-service device market and the prospects for domestic devices emergence, software development trends, as well as the situation with the existing ATM fleet maintenance.
Round table “Security of payment business and cash circulation” became one of the most resonant moments of the second day agenda at the 13th International PLUS-Forum “Cash Circulation + Self-Service. Banking and Retail”.
Among the participants of the round table, moderated by Alexey Raevsky, CEO at Zecurion, were representatives of various market segments, as well as the regulator: Alexey Golenishchev, Head of Department, Center for Monitoring and Analysis of Information Security and Cyber Resilience (managing function), Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Artem Gutnik, Head of Cybersecurity, NSPK, Anton Plinatus, Deputy Head of Forensic Expertise Department, EFC of MIA Russia, Olga Tushkanova, Head of Department for the Study of Technical Forensic and Expert Support of Crime Investigations, Department of Research Activities (Research Institute of Forensic Science), Chief Department of Forensic, Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Alexey Belousov, Adviser on Secured Printing Products, Council for Professional Qualifications under the President of the Russian Federation, and Igor Miloradov, Independent Expert.
During a lively discussion, the experts shared their views on a series of acute issues such as the current level of banknote security, anti-counterfeiting, development of banknote counterfeiting technologies, current goals and objectives of false coiners, etc.
The experts paid special attention to improving the ATM networks security, including protecting self-service banking devices from black-box attacks, etc.
The next Joint PLUS-Forum “Payment business” and “Cash Circulation + Self-Service. Banking and Retail” will be held in Moscow on September 13–14, 2023!