High maintenance cost and interchange fee have hit most of the public sector banks, forcing them to shut ATMs across the country. However, FIS Global, a leading financial technology and ATM service provider, says there is no slowdown in ATM business, as new banks are creating demand. In an interaction with BusinessLine , Gary Norcross, Chairman and CEO, said that while the company is growing its core banking businesses, its ATM business still remains the highest revenue grosser. Excerpts:

You started out as a brown-label ATM service provider, but have shifted to core banking and other financial infrastructure services. What could be the main reason for this shift?

We started out in the payments space and that continues to be a really good business, which is growing rapidly. We have a lot of switching software not only across major public sector banks but also in some of the large networks. But then what was interesting was that several years ago the Indian government started issuing new charters such as small finance banks, and payment banks. FIS won the majority of those decisions. We currently have Bandhan Bank, which runs the full suite of FIS capabilities. We have a few small and payments banks on line now. So, we have really grown our banking business very well in the last six to seven years.

Are you apprehending a slowdown in the ATM business?

No, not at all. We also continued to grow the ATM business over that time. However, the number of ATMs being deployed, I think, probably has slowed. I think, some people have started to look at where these less-performing ATMs are located and have redirected them in other locations, but we continue to win the business on the ATM front, too. We are very competitive in that space. So, our business in India, not only in the payments space but also in retail banking, has grown nicely over the last three to four years.

Well, I think, our existing customers will continue to bring out ATM opportunities, and we will participate in those. We will continue to gain market share with our switching software. When it comes to core banking, we are going to have some really big opportunities with enterprise, fraud, and risk management. We have got some really nice signings already and that will continue to grow.

What is the major challenge that you face in the Indian market? You have seen the RBI coming out with regulations quite often. So, what do you think is the main challenge for companies like yours?

I think, we operate in a regulated industry. So, increased regulatory over side is not a phenomenon just for India. We see that in every country where we are present and ensure that those regulatory compliances are met. But if we are not careful, it can distract our financial institutions from making technology decisions. And so, for us it’s all about embracing the regulatory change and working with our clients to help them understand how FIS can help them meet the regulatory requirement on a much more expedited basis. So, you can look at it as a challenge, or you can also say it is an opportunity for companies like FIS.

Any new business that you are looking at currently?

2019 is going to be a very busy year for us. We will launch a fully omni channel digital appointment strategy called Digital One. We will roll out next-generation payment capabilities in real-time payments through our open payment framework. We have been rolling that out for the last several years. We will also introduce our enterprise open agile API framework called Code Connect. So, we have a lot of innovations coming into the market in 2019. So, I think, that’s probably enough for us this year.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW