Kazakhstan-based Eurasian Bank has signed with Fiserv to streamline and automate its cash management processes with technology from Fiserv, reports Henry Vilar of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

The bank is implementing a range of cash and logistics solutions to enable web-based cash supply chain management and provide real-time visibility into cash needs.

This can allow the bank to centralize currency management, giving the bank a unified view of cash needs “rather than needing to piece together multiple sets of information.” Staff can then more accurately forecast cash needs across the bank’s ATM and branch network based on customer demand.

“Kazakhstan has a cash-based economy, and our customers have to be able to reliably access cash in order to conduct their daily lives,” said Natalia Iliyashenko, head of operations at Eurasian Bank. “With Fiserv, we will be able to gain a better view of where cash is across our entire network, so we can make sure money is available when and where our customers need it.”

“Access to cash is a defining component of banking convenience for Eurasian Bank customers,” said Lee Cameron, managing director of EMEA at Fiserv.

“Being able to optimise cash levels at our branches and self-service devices allows us to reduce our overall operating expenses,” continued Iliyashenko.

When cash sits idle in a bank or in a self-service device, like an ATM, it is costly for the financial institution because that money cannot be used for another purpose, such as funding a consumer loan.

Yet if there is not enough cash in the device for a customer to make a withdrawal, there is increased risk that a customer will take their banking business elsewhere. Through technology, banks can make certain the right supply of cash is available at branches, ATMs or any other self-service devices.

Fiserv recently appeared on the FinovateSpring 2018 stage alongside Samsung SDS, where the two showcased how Samsung SDS integrates its biometric authentication and collaboration solutions into Fiserv’s Commercial Center: Security (CC:S) to create a more secure and convenient digital banking experience. Some of the company’s recent partners include Eurasian Bank, NBT Bank, and Hellenic Bank.

Fiserv announced a partnership with one of the most innovative banks in the Mediterranean region today. The financial services technology company will help Hellenic Bank pursue its digital transformation by providing the Cypress-based institution with its Dovetail Payments Platform.

“Hellenic Bank is leveraging advanced payments technology to ensure that they are well positioned to meet the needs of their customers in a rapidly changing digital landscape,” Fiserv President of Enterprise Payment Solutions Jan Kruger said.

The technology will give Hellenic Bank a single platform from which to manage all payment types and clearing schemes, enabling the bank to move away from multiple siloed payment systems, streamline its payments architecture, and support process automation.

In a statement, Hellenic Bank COO Phivos Leontiou highlighted this aspect of the Dovetail platform. He pointed out that the diverse needs of the bank’s customers have traditionally been met with “a variety of payment systems.” With Dovetail providing a centralized payment platform, Leontiou explained, “we have been able to streamline our payments operations while offering the payment options customers expect. We’re also able to easily add capabilities, such as support for new real-time payment schemes.”

One of the largest banks in Cyprus, Hellenic Bank opened for business in 1976. The firm has 180 retail branches; ten business, corporate, and shipping centers; three international business centers, and 2,600 employees. In 2018, the bank acquired “certain assets and liabilities” of the Cyprus Cooperative Bank which helped establish Hellenic Bank as the island’s leading retail and SME bank.

Fiserv demonstrated its Commercial Center: Security platform at FinovateFall 2017. The technology protects Fiserv’s business banking and cash management application, Commercial Center, as well as other online banking apps such as lockboxes, business billpay, and remote deposit. Commercial Center: Security also offers data reporting, electronic payment, and file transfer processing, and features cash management functionality that is optimized for digital channels.

Last year at FinovateSpring, the company partnered with Samsung SDS to present the integration of the company’s SDS biometric authentication with its Commercial Center platform.

More recently Fiserv announced that it was working with NationalLink to support the use of smart safes in supply chain management. The company has been busy forging partnerships with banks and credit unions in 2019, inking deals with HealthCare First CU and Portland Local 8 FCU in March, and partnering with Kazakhstan’s Halyk Bank, Kentucky’s Forcht Bank, and New York Community Bancorp in February.

In January, Fiserv launched a new mortgagetech solution, Mortgage Momentum, that leverages workflow automation to streamline the loan origination process.

Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Brookfield, Wisconsin, Fiserv began the year with an announcement that it was merging with payments giant First Data Corporation in a deal valued at $22 billion.

Just a few weeks after revealing a pair of new credit union clients, Fiserv is back in the fintech headlines. The company announced that NationalLink will deploy Fiserv’s CorPoint cash supply chain management software to help maximize its use of smart safes. This will include gaining the ability to access smart safe data regardless of location.

Smart safes support the accounting and validation of in-store cash payments, and are typically only able to run on the proprietary cash management software of their manufacturer. Fiserv’s CorPoint can accept data from any smart safe, as well as consolidate data from different smart safes into an all-encompassing view of cash status.

CorPoint also provides real-time access to audit-level views of cash deposits, balances, and pickups. The platform allows users to aggregate and segment data by cashier, denomination, location, and other factors.

“For many consumers, cash remains a preferred form of payment, but cash is labor-intensive for merchants to manage,” Fiserv SVP and GM for Fraud, Risk, and Compliance Shawn Holtzclaw explained. “Merchants are actively seeking ways to improve cash management efficiency, and NationalLink is meeting this demand with a single platform that provides a holistic, hardware-agnostic view of smart safe transactions.”

NationalLink provides cash handling solutions, including complete ATM solutions and armored cash management services. The firm’s network of 16,000 ATMs reaches all 50 states of the U.S., as well as the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and American Samoa. The company was founded in 1992 as a merchant services acquirer.

Fiserv joined Samsung SDS on the Finovate stage last spring to demo the integration of Samsung SDS’ biometric authentication and collaboration solution into its Commercial Center: Security (CC:S) product. Founded in 1984 and based in Brookfield, Wisconsin, Fiserv announced at the beginning of the year that it would merge with First Data Corporation in an acquisition valued at $22 billion.