Now A Black Box For The ATM

…….A gang of thieves tried to break into an ATM on Drive-In road, Ahmedabad to steal the cash inside, but couldn’t breach the two-inch thick storage area of the machine and abandoned the attempt. Surprisingly, nobody reported the incident on the day itself.

_…….13th Jan- According to a reported incident thieves manage to steal Rs10.59 lakh cash from an ATM in Kamrej near Surat. Again, the incident was reported late and the security guard found missing on duty.
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There are two glaring observations from the above incidents: the late reporting of such incidents and abysmal failure of security guards in a lot of such cases.

Even as security forms the focal point of a bank’s operations, incidents like these showcase the vulnerabilities that banks are often exposed to. As per RBI, the installed base of ATMs across the country stands at approx. 1,13,680 (including both onsite and offsite ATMs) as on FY 2010-2011. These include ATMs in smaller towns and remote areas where security provisions are sometimes a challenge. If one were to add up the aggregate amount lying in these ATMs, the number would be mind boggling. Considering this, the question mark on the security of these ATMs becomes all the more profound. And, more importantly, what is the answer to this?

An additional layer of tech driven security at the ATM premises is what the banks need, and the recently launched ATM Black Box could well be the answer that banks are looking for. Micro Technologies has recently come out with a technology solution, an ATM Black Box the size of a shoe box called ‘Micro ABB’. The box acts as a physical security system coupled with energy efficient technology for the ATM.

The box sends out an SMS alert to the registered user in case of intrusion due to fire, vibration, opening of the door and motion. Micro ABB comes with life support feature like Wireless Panic Switch, which can be used by the guard in case of emergency. It is also integrated with the biometric based attendance system wherein the guard’s attendance can be recorded at regular intervals.
On Ground Deployments

“ICICI Bank and HDFC bank have signed with us”, claims Aditya Sekhar, Chief Strategic Officer, Micro Technologies, India. According to Sekhar, POCs have been successful with both the banks, who have issued completion certificates to Micro Technologies. Biztech2.com has a copy of the Proof Of Concept completion certificates issued by both the banks to Micro ABB. However, the two banks declined to comment in response to an email query from Biztech2.com.

Sekhar informs that currently the commercial terms are being discussed with both the banks. The negotiations entail how to commercialise the box with approx. 6000 ATMs for ICICI bank and 4000 ATMs for HDFC bank. The company is also in touch with SBI. “We are in touch with SBI. The meeting with the CIO/CTO has been done. Their request for POC is still to come,” adds Sekhar.

Micro Technologies has received test certification for maintaining international standard for Micro ABB. Besides, Micro ABB has been successfully installed in ATMs of many international banks that are showing satisfactory results.

How It Works

The box works on the GSM technology with each box having a SIM card. As a result, the ATM is always connected with the control centre. Any attempt to manipulate or tamper with the ATM is captured via motion sensors which relay an alarm to the control panel at the bank’s headquarters. A hard pressed attempt to steal the ATM itself by picking it up or any kind of physical movement of the machine triggers the vibration sensors, sending an alarm to the head office. The guards of the ATM also have to regularly punch in their biometric information to ensure they are always on location and not avoiding duty. The black box will go blank only when the mobile service provider’s network goes down.

The black box can run on the SIM card of any mobile service provider. An existing SIM card in the box can be replaced with a new SIM card, very similar to a mobile phone. Strong and widespread GSM connectivity across the country, helps in overcoming the geographical challenge.

The box is always connected to the internet and data can be transferred wirelessly to the bank. “When we go for commercialisation, we will most probably be deploying our software on the banks’ servers and they can have complete control over the ATM network. The SIM will directly communicate with their servers,” explains Sekhar.

According to Sekhar, the company doesn’t require RBI approval as the product does not interfere in any way with the financial transactions.

ROI Through Energy Efficiency

The same sensor technology used for security also doubles up for energy management, thereby helping banks earn ROI. The motion sensor based tube light and AC activation allows the light and AC to be automatically switched on as soon as the customer enters the ATM and switch off ten seconds after the customer has left the ATM. Thereby, conserving energy and saving on energy costs with the reduction in consumption. “The POCs with ICICI bank and HDFC bank has noted a deduction in electricity consumption by 15 - 20 percent. In this way the banks can recover the cost in about a year to 18 months,” informs Sekhar.

ATM’s 24/7 Health Check

The black box also keeps a tab on the ATM’s health 24/7 by checking the up/down time thresholds. “This can significantly reduce the TCO of the ATM in terms of manpower cost to fix the ATM in case of a technical breakdown of any sort,” says Sekhar.

Currently the technician is rushed to the ATM site after a snag is reported. After deploying the black box, banks can take pre-emptive action against any potential problems rather than waiting to react once the problem occurs. As soon as there is any disturbance felt in the set thresholds, the control centre at the bank’s head quarters gets a system generated alert apprising them of the problem. The bank in this case is in a better position to handle the issue as its preventive in nature rather than reactive. The technician can immediately attend the ATM, diagnose the problem, take remedial action to get it up and running. This can result in considerable savings for the bank as the cost incurred for maintenance after getting an alert is less than that incurred on repairing after the problem is reported. This will also help in preventing downtime, providing a better customer experience.

The ATM Black Box will also come with a camera with video analytics. For instance, if a person is at the ATM for more than 15 minutes, an automatic alert is sounded to the command centre.

Micro Technologies has also prepared an ROI matrix to explain the total savings over a period of time.