Find out how Diebold Nixdorf maintains market leadership in Asia

The company is spending heavily on R&D to better serve banks and retailers.

With a presence in 130 countries and a share of one in three ATMs all over the world, Diebold Nixdorf has proven itself as a force to beat in the industry. Since Diebold and Wincor Nixdorf combined last year to form Diebold Nixdorf, the company has maintained market leadership in the Asia Pacific region, particularly in security, and has increased its installations to more than two million electronic points of sales (EPS) and ATMs supporting more than 25 languages and over 300 globally.

Diebold Nixdorf boasts of a strong team in its regional headquarters in Singapore, where 25 countries are equally represented and where 4,000 technicians are connected as they move about in the field. The Singapore HQ also hosts a competitive and 65-strong research and development (R&D) division, which shares a hefty $200m budget with the rest of the Diebold Nixdorf offices.

“In Singapore, if you're going to look from a retail perspective, we are number one. From a banking perspective we are number two, but if we look at what is being sold in a particular year in the last three years, we are pretty much leading out there. Every retailer in Changi airport is a Diebold Nixdorf customer,” says Andy Mattes, president and CEO, Diebold Nixdorf.

Through its Connected Commerce headline, Diebold Nixdorf brings out the best of the overlap between banking, retail, and its consumers. It aims to enable connectivity across multiple channels, multiple venues, and take it to the next level. Mattes thinks that the company has done a really good transition from two companies down to one company. Diebold Nixdorf aims to be a services-led, software-enabled company.

“The reason why services is the prime anchor is that the more you think about what's happening in our industry, the more you automate, the more banks go down this concept of branch automation, retailers go to the concept of self checkout. You change the complete paradigm of how you think about services. In the old days, the question is always, well if something happens, how fast will you be there to fix it? Or if you think about, we've automated the branch, we've automated the customer experience, it's not about how fast you fix it, it's all about how you can provide up to 99% uptime,” Mattes adds.

Instead of waiting for something to break down in the system, Diebold Nixdorf boasts of top-of-the-line predictive analytics, preventive maintenance, and a 99% availability that makes it absolutely unique in the industry. Diebold Nixdorf has the best monitoring software existing, making it attractive to banks that do not have the tools they need and are looking for a third party through which they can get their service done.

When Diebold and Wincor Nixdorf joined last year, one of the priority tasks was to leverage on the companies’ R&D capabilities. Mattes says that while Diebold Nixdorf aims to be a little bit of everything, it aims to stand out. The company is spending heavily on R&D with a goal for banks and retailers to drive the innovation that they need. Due to this innovation strategy, Diebold Nixdorf has recently reaped an award for piloting contactless cash or the notion of that one can take a phone, prestate a transaction, connect with a machine, swipe the phone, and get the money.

“There are four trends in banking now. Number one is digital. I don't think there's a bank in the world that does not have a digital initiative. Flipside of digital is automation. I don't think there's a bank in the world that does not think about branch automation. Number three is around individualisation. Number four is around miniaturisation,” Mattes adds.

Diebold Nixdorf has recently introduced the world’s smallest ATM in Las Vegas, a machine that has about 1 ½ the size of the width of the US dollar bill, a metre high, and looks like a tablet on top of a safe. Diebold Nixdorf also introduced a new ATM with software-driven interactions that have functionalities like that of smartphone or tablet. The new ATM, called Essence, has no more keypads, no card reader, and uses mobile devices only. Mattes says that this machine gives an appreciation of how Diebold Nixdorf can innovate by combining technologies.

Beyond breaking new ground in innovation, Diebold Nixdorf puts prime importance on security considering that skimming has become a US$2b problem around the world. Mattes says that the Diebold Nixdorf leads the Western world in the area of biometrics, which is particularly popular in areas in Latin America where the crime rate is extremely high and where mugging is an everyday phenomenon.

According to Mattes, biometrics has been a huge gamechanger, but Diebold Nixdorf also discovered a simple solution to a huge problem. A few years ago, everyone shook their heads at the possibility that a 90-degree turn of the magstripe and inserting the card on the long edge could solve a US$2b skimming headache. Now, as an example, Mattes says that the state of Utah has completely turned on long edge card reading and skimming has stopped cold.

“Technology can really help on the security. The good guys build a 10 foot wall, the bad guys build an 11 foot ladder, we raise the wall to 15ft, they're working on a taller ladder. This is why our customers like to work with us, we're spending oodles of money in security in smart components, in software, in new solutions and new technology,” Mattes concludes.