This October 5-6 Diebold Nixdorf and Penkių kontinentų bankinės technologijos (BS/2) held IN TOUCH Baltics conference on banking technologies where issues and trends in the financial and retail sectors were discussed.

According to Diebold Nixdorf’s Head of Indirect Sales CEE Joachim Struck, the main idea of the conference was to help bankers and retailers to be closer to their customers. "Technological solutions for the financial and retail sectors should be innovative and appealing to their customers. Offering even the most complex financial services simple, convenient and fast is an opportunity to engage existing customers – and attract new ones," Mr Struck said.

Penki kontinentai Group Board Chairman Idrakas Dadašovas welcomed the conference participants and wished interesting topics and discussions. He also stressed the importance of meeting with professionals, hearing questions and discussing issues that are of interest to them.

The event was mainly focused on modern technologies which help to overcome the challenges banks and retailers meet. Diebold Nixdorf's strategic growth and international sales manager Stephan Okroy spoke on innovative customer service channels. SEB Baltics IT service manager Aldis Voitenko stressed the benefits from using Cash Recycling technology: this system significantly reduces collecting costs and optimizes the circulation of cash. BS/2 business development manager Daniel Fukson presented Cash Management.iQ software solution.

BS/2 product manager Anton Savkin presented one of the most interesting solutions. A VTM.iQ hardware and software complex consisting of a CuRiE self-service terminal, a CS 6060 ATS and specialized software solutions changes customer service radically.

"This integrated solution allows customers to get all conventional banking services remotely. They can print out A4 format documents (statements, contracts, etc), scan passports, ID cards, fingerprints, e-signatures on CuRiE. The customer is not only identified by the system, but also generates and signs contract with the bank, requests and immediately receives the ready-made bank card. So VTM.iQ is an extra service channel, which is not only convenient and user-friendly, but also beneficial to the bank," Mr Savkin said.

The conference participants also had the opportunity to see the display of the latest technologies including multifunctional payment systems, various self-service equipment and specialized software solutions.

The Riga conference got together bankers and retailers from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine and the Russia.