Sandro Bernardi, Head of the Product Division at Diebold Nixdorf in Brazil, highlights the significance of the integration between digital and physical elements in elevating the financial system to a new level.
How have financial institutions evolved in response to digitalization and changing consumer demands?
In recent years, financial institutions, such as banks and credit unions, have been undergoing a major transformation, from being just organizations that facilitate payments and perform basic financial operations to becoming true multifunctional hubs of services.
This advancement is a response to the changes we are seeing in society brought about by increased digitalization and growing consumer demands for agility, convenience and personalization. What was once a transactional-only space now expands to offer a much better customer experience, with more complete services.
What role does cash play in Brazil’s economy despite the growing trend of digital payments?
In these new business environments, the integration between the physical and digital worlds is increasingly solid. Although the digitization of transactions is advancing, the co-existence with the physical world, of cash, remains essential, reflecting the country’s economic particularities.
The culture of payments and the relationship with money shows that we are a cash society, that is, a society in which there is still a large movement of cash values, with a large part of Brazil depending on this circulation of paper money to receive and make payments, and make the wheels of business turn.
No wonder, according to data from the Central Bank, the amount of circulating medium has grown 27% since 2018, proving that the use of physical cash is still on the rise. The data shows that paper money remains an important part of the economy, while digitalization also comes to help.
How are cash recycling ATMs contributing to the transformation of financial institutions?
One of the main drivers of transformation in the financial sector is the advancement of the use of cash recycling ATMs, which uniquely integrate the physical and digital. These devices are helping to redefine the role of financial institutions, allowing them to move from being mere paying agencies, whose function is basically the distribution of cash, to becoming business centers, with employees working more efficiently and strategically on more value-added initiatives for their customers.
What are the benefits of cash recycling ATMs for businesses and the economy?
The great advantage of recycling ATMs is their ability to check and deposit the amounts automatically, immediately crediting them to bank accounts. This allows, for example, businesses that receive cash payments to have instant access to their working capital right after deposit, eliminating bottlenecks and reducing reliance on manual and time-consuming operations.
By having the possibility of having their working capital made available in the account quickly, businesses totally transform their behavior in relation to money and financial institutions: they stop keeping large volumes idle in their vaults, they start to use financial systems more in their daily business, as they also no longer need to be in long lines of human cashiers, and increase the circulation of money in society, bringing enormous benefits to the country’s economy.
How do cash recycling ATMs improve efficiency, sustainability and contribute to Brazil’s leadership in this technology?
In addition, recycling ATMs also contribute to a continuous cycle of money circulation by making deposited notes immediately available for other customers to withdraw later. With this, it also significantly reduces the need to refuel the terminals, reducing operating costs and environmental impact, since it reduces the frequency of transportation of valuables. Thus, in addition to improving financial efficiency and the availability of money in society, recyclers promote sustainability by reducing CO2 emissions associated with the transportation of valuables.
With recycling ATMs, financial institutions have another foundation to evolve into dynamic and strategic business centers, meeting the demands of their customers in a much more personalized way. Brazil even stands out as one of the global leaders in the use of cash recycling technologies. While countries like the United States are still in the early stages of adoption, Brazil is advanced in implementing these solutions, with a three-to-five-year advantage over many other markets.
How is Brazil pioneering financial innovation while balancing digitalization and the continued importance of cash?
The technology seen in action in Brazil today will serve as a reference for the future of other nations, consolidating the country as a pioneer in financial innovation.
Brazil will continue on its journey of digitizing the financial system, increasingly integrated with the multichannel of transactions, including technologies such as recyclers, QR Codes and facial recognition so that the population and businesses have access to the money they need so much in a safe way.
As stated by the Central Bank itself, cash remains recognized as important for Brazilian society, as it serves relevant portions of the population that still use it in their daily lives. Therefore, as Brazil advances in the digitalization of the financial system, the co-existence between the physical and the digital becomes key to meeting the diverse needs of people. In this context, Brazil will continue to position itself as a pioneer, leading the use of solutions that balance tradition and innovation, serving as a model for the future of the financial sector.