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Xerox Banking Innovation Accelerates Availability of Financial Services in India, Other Developing Markets

Monday 08. October 2012 - India and other developing markets face an increasing demand for the most basic of banking services. But with India's 1.2 billion multi-lingual population spread over 1.2 billion square miles, servicing their banking needs comes with challenges.

Researchers at Xerox (NYSE: XRX) have invented a banking solution that reduces the cost of establishing branches – even in rural areas – and automates much needed personal banking services, like opening a bank account or applying for a loan, making it simple for consumers in India and other developing countries to manage their money.
“This innovative approach puts the power of technology into the hands of customers by eliminating paperwork, lines and inconvenience,” said Nischal Piratla, senior entrepreneur in residence at Xerox Research Centre India (XRCI). “The solution is so simple and effective we see it also being used in some of the most remote corners of the world.”
Xerox innovation automates basic banking tasks by connecting a bank’s standardized back-office operations with its customer-facing operations – making it economically feasible for banks to set up rural branches.
How It Works
Developed through ethnographers surveying the issues around getting financial services to rural areas, Xerox plans to pilot the technology in kiosks with one of India’s leading banks. These are easy to replicate, install and secure in both remote and densely populated areas. The solution builds upon the capability of Xerox multifunction devices to not only scan hand written forms, but to also interact with the resulting content. This eliminates the need for fully staffed bank branches, reduces paper-based processes and provides clients with a user-friendly experience. A prospective bank client walks up to the kiosk and inputs key information that can accommodate several languages. The system automatically verifies and validates the information, and populates back-end databases with the correct information.
Innovations from Xerox built into the banking solution include:
Automatic validation of completeness and correctness of handwritten paper forms
Language conversion of forms without the need for translation
Secure technology to overcome slow, error-prone data transmission over satellite networks commonly used in rural areas