The Client
Operating since 1987, Budapest Bank is one of the largest Hungarian commercial banks. Budapest Bank provides full scope financial services to both its retail and corporate customers. GE Capital, the strategic investor of the bank plays a decisive role in managing the bank and provides a firm financial background that is unique among banks in Hungary. Budapest Bank has the best credit rating among banks in Central-Europe and has 70 branch ATMs, 20 off-site ATMs and 230,000 cardholders. Relying on the assistance and world-class professional experience of its parent company GE Capital, Budapest Bank continuously improves its services and strives to become the best financial service provider of the Hungarian market.

The Challenge
Budapest Bank wanted to focus on its core banking business and card issuing. The bank also was seeking to improve performance of the ATM network cash usage and ATM uptime, creating a competitive advantage in the Hungarian marketplace.

The Solution
Budapest Bank partnered with Euronet Worldwide to outsource its ATMs. Under the agreement, Euronet took over the ownership of the ATMs but the machines remained bank branded. Through this transaction, Budapest Bank significantly decreased its non-performing asset and improved the bank's return on asset indicator. A comprehensive service level agreement between Euronet and Budapest Bank for the operation of the ATMs, resulted in a reduced cash supply by 30% and increased uptime. Budapest Bank also launched additional services, such as prepaid mobile recharge services in the bank's ATMs.

In all, Euronet has provided a multitude of services to Budapest Bank, including ATM vendor consulting, installation services, subcontractor management, ATM transaction switching and reporting, monitoring services and service level guarantee, authorization services, first- and second-line maintenance, cash forecasting, cash replenishment, ATM cash reconciliation and balancing, settlement and disputed transactions and customer service. In addition, Euronet provides participation in the independent Euronet-branded network of 300 ATMs throughout Hungary to Budapest Bank customers, thus limiting the bank's need to maintain a significant network of off-premise ATMs to meet customer demands.

The Results
By signing a comprehensive network participation agreement, Budapest Bank has been able to immediately enlarge its distribution channel with predictable costs and low investment. Through the outsourcing services provided by Euronet, the bank was able to use its revenue, previously tied up in the ATMs, to generate new business opportunities.