Integrated solutions and teamwork – Delta’s "Protecht" for ATM real-time monitoring and energy saving

Intrusion, theft and sabotage of ATM kiosks occurs frequently in Indian city suburbs or rural areas with inadequately developed infrastructure, and incidents where consumer attacks while using the ATM are also often reported. Despite guards stationed at various ATM locations, three shifts are needed daily, in turn incurring immense cost pressure to police authorities and management companies.

Mphasis is a HP subsidiary that focuses on payment management services in India. Its primary service is to facilitate various banks in India to establish ATM kiosk site, including infrastructure, ATM kiosk installation, power systems, monitoring systems, safety protection and cash replenishment etc. The firm has an annual turnover of US$1 billion. However, the loss of Mphasis ATMs has increased greatly every year, from US$1.7 million in 2010 to more than US$7 million in 2013.

Delta has collaborated with Mphasis since 2013, with services including UPS and battery accessories. In June last year, during a visit by the Delta Electronics India’s general manager, Dalip Sharma, the client expressed a high level of interest about the monitoring system and site management system created for telecom operators by Delta. Furthermore, the client also asked Mr. Sharma to devise solutions for lowering the risk and management cost at ATM locations.

Mr. Sharma immediately recognized the tremendous potential of this opportunity. “At the time, Delta’s team did not have any off-the-shelf solutions available. However, we were in control of certain applied technologies, therefore we only needed to integrate related terminal devices and update the software platform.” Consequently, Mr. Sharma gathered 13 colleagues from Delta Electronics India’s MCISBU and TPSBU engineering teams, reviewed all existing technologies and tried to further understand the client’s requirements and technical specifications. Cross-departmental collaboration allowed the stimulation of additional possibilities through different technical competencies, and Mr. Sharma presented our first solution in just three months by conducting a “very cool” demonstration for Mphasis. “Why do I describe the demonstration as very cool? Because we installed monitoring equipment at five downtown ATM locations, and all we brought to the client side was a notebook computer to demonstrate the entire monitoring solution.” Mr. Sharma recalled the memorable presentation.

At the time, Mphasis was immensely impressed with Delta’s software and hardware integration capabilities, and it was even more surprised that Delta’s India team managed to propose implementable, total solutions within such a short space of time. However, two other competitors, including Schneider Electric have also learnt about the opportunity and are already eagerly preparing their proposals. Colleagues from Delta’s project team immediately invested more time to perform system integration and optimization. “Our team worked long hours day and night to buy time; they even volunteered to work during the weekends and holidays in the hope of presenting the best solution to our client.” Mr. Sharma is deeply proud of the team. “Thanks to our colleagues’ endeavors, our progress was way ahead of our competitors. For instance, we incorporated an image analytics function into the software platform, so if anyone approaches the ATM location holding a hammer-like object, the image analytics system will immediately identify him and send out an alert to the local police authorities and Mphasis control center. At the same time, Delta’s existing power management solution effectively minimizes energy consumption at the ATM locations through functions such as standby mode, battery management, light sensor etc. These are something that our competitors are unable to provide.”

Comprehensive solution planning and technology integration ability have led Mphasis to select Delta as its partner. At the same time, it has offered Delta a three-year exclusive partnership contract. In mid May, Delta Electronics India and Mphasis co-organized new product launch in Mumbai.

photo 2: Delta India's GM, Mr. Dalip Sharma (right ) and Mphasis' Executive Vice President Mr. Puneet Bhirani (left) both attend the product launch.

Through Mphasis’ extensive sales network, the India team is able to propagate the solution to banks throughout the country and it has been given an opportunity to be listed on tier one Indian banks’ supplier list. At the same time, the India team also developed a brand new business model: collecting monthly location service fees by providing a real-time monitoring service at ATM locations. Mr. Sharma further indicated that, in light of India’s economic growth strength and the vast demand for cash transactions, the service revenue is expected to grow exponentially in the future years to come. This year, 1,300 ATM locations are expected to adopt Delta’s solution, and the number is forecasted to rise to 5,000 by 2015. In the future, we even consider creating a new financial industry services LOB that is focused on application development in the financial industry.

Mr. Dalip Sharma, General Manager of Delta India, and Mr. Puneet Bhirani, CEO of Mphasis in the product launch press conference