NCR Corp. purchased the Sandy, Utah-based video banking software maker uGenius Technology Inc.
The two companies have collaborated since 2011 in the development of an ATM that allows bank customers to talk to a teller remotely through a video connection, NCR said in its Jan. 3 announcement. NCR purchased a minority stake in uGenius in 2012. NCR did not disclose the financial terms of last year's investment or of the acquisition, which it closed Dec. 31.
NCR plans to use uGenius' technology to improve its Aptra Interactive Teller product, which the ATM maker plans to test with several top-10 U.S. banks in the first half of this year.
"Video banking – or, as we prefer to call it, remote assisted service – will continue to gain momentum in the U.S. and other countries in 2013," said Peter Leav, executive vice president at NCR, in a press release.
One advantage of using a remote teller instead of a conventional ATM is tellers can authorize cash withdrawals that exceed the limits enforced by ATMs, NCR says.
"Through our development work with uGenius and the resulting purchases and pilots by banks and credit unions, we have definitively placed NCR in front of all other technology companies in this area," Leav added. "By acquiring uGenius, we are delivering against our corporate strategy of innovating for our customers and reinventing NCR as a software-driven business, while allowing us to enhance existing technology platforms and create a new segment of remote assisted service."
