NCR acquires software-maker uGenius Technology to boost its video ATM technology

NCR Corporation has purchased uGenius Technology, Inc, a Utah-based pioneer in video banking software.

NCR's acquisition of uGenius will help it continue to grow its APTRA Interactive Teller solution, which lets consumers conduct remote, assisted-teller transactions over an ATM – speaking with a live teller who has control of the machine. NCR anticipates that it will begin pilots for APTRA Interactive Teller with multiple top 10 US banks in the first half of 2013.

In 2011, NCR and uGenius collaborated to build the first ATM that lets consumers talk and bank with a live, remote teller, which will let banks deliver a face-to-face banking experience for longer hours and offer more services to their customers. In January 2012, NCR acquired a minority stake in uGenius.

NCR also anticipates leveraging other uGenius technologies such as SmartOffice and Online Video Banking to expand the delivery of video banking to multi-channel solutions across NCR Financial Services and other industry verticals.

''Video banking – or, as we prefer to call it, remote assisted service – will continue to gain momentum in the US and other countries in 2013. Remote assisted service is proving to help financial institutions grow revenues while at the same time reduce their operating and real estate costs,'' said Peter Leav, executive vice president, NCR Corporation.

Leav added, ''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. 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.''