Financial institutions benefit from video-driven analytics with March Networks Searchlight4

March Networks®, a leader in intelligent IP video surveillance for financial institutions worldwide, is pleased to introduce March Networks Searchlight™4 for Banking. The new, video-based business intelligence solution provides banks and credit unions with exceptional insights into customer service, operations and marketing, helping them improve performance and win new business. It also delivers powerful search and investigation capabilities that enable financial institutions to reduce costs associated with ATM skimming, cash harvesting and other fraudulent activity.

Most banking organisations have invested significantly in video surveillance systems to ensure the security of their customers, employees and assets. Many have taken that investment further by adopting software applications that combine recorded video with ATM and teller transaction data, making it easier to investigate suspicious transactions.

Conveniently accessible via the software's browser-based dashboard, Searchlight provides financial institutions with a complete view of their retail banking business using customisable reporting tools that enable them to:

* Improve customers' experience and optimise staffing;
Searchlight delivers metrics on customer experiences, including wait times and the number of people in line at teller stations or ATMs. Managers can easily run reports to analyse and compare data from one or multiple locations and use that information to optimise staffing or identify where more training is needed. This knowledge is key to branch performance, as customer experience is the most common reason consumers give for opening and closing accounts, ahead of fees, rates, locations and convenience (Ernst & Young 2014 global consumer banking survey).

* Improve fraud defenses and cut investigation costs;
Searchlight enables banks to identify potential fraud and reduce investigation times considerably with integrated video, audio and transaction data, and the ability to search across multiple sites simultaneously. Managers can easily view statistics on which branch, teller or ATM has the most withdrawals or deposits over a certain amount, for example, and pull up the recorded video for further review. The software can also proactively alert managers or investigators to suspicious activity at an ATM, which could indicate ATM skimming or cash harvesting.

* Assess financial services and promotional success;
Measuring how well a promotion is working in a branch, or seeing if it's been executed correctly across the organisation, can be invaluable to marketing teams. Searchlight delivers visual auditing capabilities and sophisticated metrics on customer dwell times. Staff can use the software to assess how long a potential customer waited to speak with a financial service advisor or if promotional signage is having an impact. If one branch is outperforming, they can use Searchlight to uncover the reasons why and make adjustments at other locations.

* Enhance security and operations.
With Searchlight, authorised managers and security/operations staff can remotely spot-check branches from any networked location to assess customer activity, maintenance, policy compliance and overall operational efficiency. The software provides detailed reports on a variety of events, such as when a safe is opened, and makes it easy to review suspicious activities using synchronised video and audio.

“Searchlight extracts relevant information from vast hours of recorded video and data and turns it into effective business intelligence,” said Net Payne, Chief Marketing Officer, March Networks. “It gives financial institutions the insights they need to improve customer service and overall performance, and allows them to leverage investments they've already made in video surveillance by extending the value it delivers to additional groups within the organisation.”