The rising threat of automated teller machine (ATM) fraud, and the innovative technology solutions that financial institutions could adopt to address security challenges, dominated discussion at a conference held in Riyadh recently to address the significant changes that are transforming the role of the ATM. The conference was attended by more than 100 representatives from leading financial institutions in the region and senior executives from major IT companies in the banking and financial services market, including Dave Wetzel, vice president and managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Diebold, Incorporated; Sheikh Abdullah A. Alhamrani, chairman and CEO of Alhamrani Group of Companies; and Jaroslaw Knapic, senior analyst at DataMonitor. Held at Al-Khozama Center in Riyadh, the conference addressed emerging trends in retail banking and the financial self-service marketplace, covering the important themes of branch transformation, deposit automation, next-generation software solutions, integrated services, with a special emphasis on ATM security. Addressing his company's key strategic initiatives in the region, Wetzel emphasized the pressing need for financial institutions to ensure increased ATM security. “In a climate of increased ATM fraud and threats, financial institutions can no longer afford to take a reactive approach to detecting and preventing fraud attempts and attacks on their ATMs,” Wetzel said. “For emerging markets such as the Middle East, which has been witnessing a massive rise in ATM fraud over the past few years and where financial self-service activities are set to increase exponentially, ensuring protection against security threats is critical, as the extent of market growth will be closely linked to the level of transaction security offered to customers.” ATM security remained the dominant theme of the day with experts from Diebold - leading global provider of ATM which organized the conference - and keynote speakers from major IT players in the region analyzing the current landscape, regulatory compliance, card skimming and PIN interception.
