The United States is at the center of many conversations in Europe these days. At Wincor Nixdorf AG's annual Wincor World fair, the inauguration of Barrack Obama and the economic crisis are the chosen topics of conversation over every cocktail.
 
The mood this year has been a bit somber — a striking contrast to the energy felt at last year's fair. But the somberness is appropriate, as the state of the global economy is one that bankers, retailers and manufacturers are taking very seriously. And more importantly, many are looking to the United States for recovery.

During his opening address yesterday, Wincor Nixdorf president and chief executive Eckard Heidloff said Wincor Nixdorf is focusing its business on innovation and service, and it expects the Americas and Asia-Pacific to continue to be strong growth markets. That includes the United States, where Wincor Nixdorf has over the last three years made strides to improve and build its servicing business in the retail and banking sectors.
 
Even in a down economy, the company sees opportunity for outsourcing and servicing growth.
 
“Retailers and bankers cannot afford to lose customers, so they have to invest in technology that will improve the customer experience but also reduce operating costs,” Heidloff told ATM Marketplace in a one-on-one interview this morning. “We see this as being important on the retail and the banking side. We see more of them looking at outsourcing. So if they lay off people in their IT departments, for instance, then they will look to outsourcing. And this makes sense.”
 
Changing times
 
As ATM operators at an event held for Wincor Nixdorf's banking customers and partners in the United Kingdom held up their drinks to toast the incoming U.S. president, they lamented the current financial situation and expressed hope that political changes in the United States might spur enough excitement to steer the economy in an upward direction.
 
Politics aside, U.S. financial institutions are being watched closely, not only by banking peers but also by Wincor Nixdorf.
 
ATM replacements for the last two or three years have helped drive ATM growth for ATM vendors such as Wincor Nixdorf in the States. Triple DES and Check 21 fueled that growth, and last year the growth was expected to continue through 2009. That expectation has been doused by the economic downturn. Now the focus is on services and outsourcing, innovations and solutions.
 
And the same holds true for retailers. POS replacements, fueled by the move to EMV (chip and PIN in Europe and Canada) and contactless (RFID) payments in the United States, will likely halt. But service and optimization of operations will grow.
 
Wincor Nixdorf now has 34 customer care centers scattered throughout the world.
 
“More than ever, our customers' business is being shaped by intensive competition, rationalization, globalization and standardization,” Heidloff said during his opening address.
 
He added that Wincor Nixdorf is being cautious about future financial expectations, since the economic situation could lead to lower investments from the banking and retail sectors, thus adversely affecting Wincor Nixdorf's business development in the short term.