After adopting NCR CxBanking software earlier this year to provide exceptional customer experience across digital and physical channels, Nationwide will now be adding the latest multifunction NCR SelfServ™ 91 ATM to the existing suite of devices across its retail estate. This is part of Nationwide’s 500 branch refurbishment programme being carried out over the next 5 years.

Building on Nationwide’s heritage of innovation and strategy to implement convenient customer-centric technology at the heart of its retail banking strategy, the Society continues to invest significantly in connecting its branch and digital banking experiences. This includes £500m invested in its branches over next five years, underlining Nationwide’s confidence in the future of the branch alongside its commitment to digital channels. By providing customers with a choice of how, where and when they can bank, Nationwide aims to provide the best customer service and maintain its reputation as a personable place to bank in today’s digital society.

The initial deployment of NCR’s newest and most innovative ATM solution, and associated branch re-design, will be made at Nationwide’s Croft branch near Swindon in September 2015. Additional London flagship branches in Threadneedle Street, Cheapside, Tottenham Court Road, Victoria and Westfield shopping center are being re-fitted later in 2015.

“We’ve listened to what customers want. This has led us to focus on the next generation of online and mobile services to complement traditional person to person interactions, creating an ‘always available’ 24/7 banking environment. Digitally enabled services and simplified processes will allow our members to choose when, where and how they wish to engage with us,” said Barnaby Davis, Divisional Director for Group Retail Strategy at Nationwide. “The Society will continue to invest in its systems and infrastructure with strategic suppliers, such as NCR, to ensure that our members can manage their money wherever and however they choose to do so.”

Nationwide’s investment in its branch network will include the re-definition of the branch with new layouts to enable more person to person conversations. The design of NCR’s SelfServ™ 91 ATMs - carried out at NCR’s Dundee Center of Excellence R&D center - helps enable this, as Nationwide employees are better able to assist customers at the ATM, if the customer so wishes. Traditional teller lines, counters and glass screens will be reduced so that Nationwide staff are more readily available to speak to and advise customers on the branch floor.

"Achieving the right balance and integration between digital and physical banking channels is a challenge for most banks and building societies in the U.K.," said Rachel Nash, Director Financial Services at NCR U.K. "Nationwide has proved itself fearless when it comes to adopting and rolling out technology to provide value to its members and help drive its business. The implementation of our latest customer experience software platform will provide the flexibility for Nationwide to adopt new and emerging technologies across multiple channels in the future. The deployment of our state-of-the-art multifunction ATMs is just the latest example of innovation at the Society. We look forward to many more in the future."

NCR CxBanking software adopted by Nationwide earlier this year included NCR Connections and NCR Activate. Both software solutions help Nationwide to reduce total cost of ownership by decreasing the building society’s dependence on legacy systems and streamlining duplicated processes. The NCR software solutions will also reduce the time and cost to market for new banking services as they are delivered across all channels, including the new ATMs, and enable Nationwide to provide more value to customers via its self-service solutions by leveraging existing web services via ATM and other self-service solutions.