Editors Note

Dear Readers,

Two years ago, a man had a vision to establish a localized self-service IT company with the aim of facilitating the common man as well as the corporate sector with their self-service needs.

In Nov 2007, this dream became a reality when he was successful in launching the company named as Touchpoint (Pvt) Ltd. Established by our (late) President, Mr. Bader-ul-Islam, we started our operations last year by signing an agreement with one of the world’s leading ATM suppliers; Diebold Inc USA. Our aim is to provide transaction convenience to your customers through our ATMs and solutions.

On completion of one year of this company, we present to you the very first edition of In Touch; our newsletter through which we will be in touch with you every now and then. We shall keep you informed of our news, products/services, roadmaps, achievements etc.

In this edition, we have paid tribute to our founder, Mr. Bader-ul-Islam, followed by an outlook on the inauguration of the company. We had the opportunity to interview one of our valued customers. We have also highlighted a member of the Opteva Series of ATMs, Opteva 522, a revolutionary ATM that will help you get the highest possible rate of return on your investments in self-service technology.

Keep on reading for more details.

Warm Regards,
Asif Aziz.

Bader-ul-Islam, a pioneer, a great thinker, a mentor to many and a passionate leader was the sole reason this company came into being.

Bader started his shining career in the early 70s. Moved to Kuwait in 1977 in pursuit of a challenging job. Returned to Pakistan in 1982 on the demise of his father so he could be there for his family as a support. Soon after his return, he got a job in NCR and became the Country Head for the latter in 1989-90. For nine consecutive years, he held this position with great honor, success and innovation. To this day, he has linked with his name great achievements such as the establishment of NCR Education Center, Corporate Development Centers for professionals, initiating self-service banking concept as well as the concept of Open Systems and Industry Standards, organizing one of its kind IT Week in the Country and last but not least; initiating the event of (then) NCR IT Excellence Awards now called as ‘Teradata IT Excellence Awards’, which to this day is held and organized with great spirits and zeal and recognizes outstanding talent of the country.

Sadly, his health started deteriorating in 2005-06. Fought all that he could against his illness; he decided to resign from NCR and take the back seat. But soon after, he was up and about again; back to his vigorous and energetic self again. Decided to initiate his own company with a vision to establish a true Pakistani entity having all the ingredients of the finest multinationals in the country.

Bader is not amongst us today, but has left a great mark on all of us; his guidance, direction and leadership will always remain with us and will help us to move forward with the same zeal and dynamism that he had instilled in us.


	With the aspiration to ‘Provide transaction Convenience through Touchpoint’, the latter started its journey back in November 2007. The media being present on the inaugural ceremony, helped us spread our message across the nation that we are emerging as an ally of the market leader, Diebold Inc. USA. Since then, there has been no turning back for us and we have continually shown strong progress with the help of our customers who have bestowed their confidence on Team Touchpoint.


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BankIslami is one of our primary customers and we had the privilege
of interviewing Mr. Asad Alim who has been associated with BankIslami for the past three
years as the Head of Information Systems. He was kind enough to take out time from his busy schedule for
an executive dialogue with us.

Q1. What is your vision on the Alternate Delivery Channels of today and how do you see it growing?

Ans. Alternate Delivery Channels is no more just an option for banks. It has become a necessity to attract and retain customers. BankIslami from day 1 of its operations has kept focus on alternate delivery channels. Our philosophy of the latter is to offer the right product at the right place and at the right time to customer. For long the Banks have tried to offer complete range of services from all the delivery channels to all customers. The concept is now changing as Banks have started to realize the weakness in such a model. The new concept is to promote 'right channeling’. The concept of 'right channeling is to encourage the customer to perform an activity from the most convenient delivery channel.

These days the most used ADC in Pakistan is ATMs. But the scenario will change as banks start to leverage the new Branchless Banking concepts through other delivery channels such as Mobile Phones or Internet. Mobile phone will be without doubt the most appropriate channel to perform various set of operations which were previously being done through other channels.

Q2. Can you elaborate a little on the plans of BankIslami in terms of technology?

Ans. BankIslami has opened 50 branches in 27 cities across Pakistan. It further plans to expand its network to 100 branches by end of 2008. This is by far the fastest growth by any bank in Pakistan. This exponential growth in such a short period has been only possible with the help of Technology. BankIslami has been first in various technology initiatives and continues to use innovation to provide world class service to its customers. BankIslami launched the 1st Biometric ATM providing security. It was the first Bank to use LINUX throughout the enterprise and it was the 1st Bank to implement Smart Card Based Thin Clients across its network. BankIslami will soon be going live on the world’s first and most comprehensive Islamic Banking Solution called iMal.

Q3. How big is your infrastructure, that is, what is your install base?

Ans.We have currently opened 50 branches with one ATM per branch. As our branch network grows, our ATM install base will increase. We also plan to deploy offsite ATMs.

Q4. What kinds of self-service initiatives have you taken so far?

Ans. BankIslami will soon launch its Kiosk Machine to further strengthen the Self service delivery channel. A Kiosk will have various value added services such as Printing of Complete Statements, Paying of Utility Bills and even printing a Bank Draft 24x7.

Q5. How was your experience with Touchpoint considering that it is a relatively newer company?

Ans.The Touchpoint team has been very professional right from Sales to Service Delivery. To be honest, initially we had our concerns because it was a startup. The thing that convinced us the most was the
experience that the team Touchpoint has put in place from start. Once our ATMs were up and running our comfort with them increased and thus we extended our relationship this year by procuring additional ATMs through them.

Q6. What models of Diebold (partnered with Touchpoint) have you installed thus far?

Ans. Opteva 520.

We are thankful to our customers for putting their trust in us…

Over the past one year, Touchpoint has been successful in adding to its profile an impressive list of customers.

	Arif Habib Bank Limited		Bank Islami Pakistan Limited
	Atlas Bank Limited		Habib Bank Limited
	Bank Al Habib		NIB Bank

Despite the sad loss of our founder, we thank our revered customers for putting their utmost trust and confidence in us and we assure them of our persistent support and impeccable services as and when they need.

For the First time in Pakistan, Diebold ATMs get multiple certifications…

Diebold has been existent in Pakistan for the past 7 years but for the very first time, Touchpoint has been able to acquire a number of certifications for Diebold ATMs, thereby giving its customers a wide choice

	Touchpoint gets the Certification of Diebold’s Opteva ATMs with Phoenix and Iris switches on NDC Protocol. This is in line with the standard procedures as laid out by TPS and jointly carried out with Touchpoint.
	Diebold ATMs are also certified to be supported by the ATM Controller NIMBUS.
	Thanks to the initiative taken by Touchpoint, Diebold’s Opteva ATMs are now also compatible with two more switches; Euronet and H-Plus.

All these certifications give you further compatibility, a wider choice and more acceptability.

Top 10 Advantages for Customers Certifying their ATMs on NDC

1.	Improvement in the ATM uptime.
2.	Reducing the doubtful / suspected transactions thereby improving on the ATM functionality.
3.	Generate Auto Reversals.
4.	Reduce retraction in transactions.
5.	Since the NDC platform is standardized, it becomes easier to perform the UAT testing.
6.	Easier to track the last activity of the ATM incase of ATM restart, hence better auditing capability.
7.	3DES support.
8.	EMV Compliant.
9.	Electronic Data Capturing gives you an efficient and cost effective solution to save on paper journal.
10.	Status monitoring on Insight gives you round the clock statuses of your ATMs.

The Opteva 522 from Diebold is large on features and small on space. This innovative cash dispenser provides endless potential to your self-service delivery channel.

Feature-rich Functionality
Opteva 522 offers outstanding functionality featuring cash and media dispensing,
marketing capabilities, bill payment, funds transfers and balance inquiries—all built
into a compact footprint.

Maximum Availability
Ensure maximum availability with Opteva 522’s five-cassette capacity, which is supported by intelligent modules that forecast maintenance needs so you can respond proactively.

Ultimate Reliability
Opteva technology delivers one of the highest levels of uptime in the industry. That means consistent convenience for your customers and peace of mind for you.

Flexible installation
Small footprint featuring front-load, rear-load and vestibule configurations, Opteva 522’s flexible design complements most financial institutions for efficient use of valuable floor space.

Multi-Channel Software
Agilis®, Diebold’s high-performance solutions platform, performs in a cross-vendor
environment and connects to Web applications, back-office systems and other customer channels to maximize your brand, personalize transactions and deploy new functionality quickly.

Security Solutions – The enhanced security features integrate the latest in
fraud-prevention technology to reduce your exposure while giving your customers an enhanced sense of security.

For the highest level of reliability and continuous accessibility from your ATM channel, put your trust in a proven leader, Diebold. Solutions from Diebold operate easily, profitably and securely, so your channel runs as efficiently as possible. Our Self Service solutions provide maximum durability for a high rate on your investment. Our offers are designed with an eye toward the future by ensuring upgradeability and delivering tomorrow’s self-service terminals today.

Significant Features

	Designed to meet international accessibility guidelines
	Touch screen Options
	Sunlight Viewable
	Enhanced Operator Interface
	Enhanced Security including fraud resistive dispenser and card reader
	Advanced Function Dispenser

Here are five questions for you to test your perception, reasoning and the quickness of your logical processing.
Don’t take your time, answer immediately.

Q1. You are a participant in a race. You overtake the second person. What position are you in?

Ans. If you answered you are First, you are wrong. If you overtake the second person and take his place, YOU are in second place.

Q2. If you overtake the last person, you are…?

Ans. If you answered that you are second to last, you are wrong again. How can you overtake the last person?

Q3. (This must be done in your head only. Do NOT use paper/pencil or a calculator). Try it.
Take 1000 and add 40 to it. Now add another 1000. Now add 30. Add another 1000. Now add 20. Now add another 1000. Now add 10. What is the total?

Ans. Did you get 5000? The correct answer is actually 4100. Don’t believe it? Check with a calculator.

Q4. Mary’s father has five daughters:
1.Nana 2. Nene 3. Nini 4. Nono and…? What’s the name of the fifth daughter?

Ans.Did you answer Nunu? NO! Ofcourse not! Her name is Mary.

Q5. A mute person goes to a shop and wants to buy a toothbrush. By imitating the action of brushing his teeth, he successfully expresses himself to the shopkeeper and the purchase is done. Next a blind man comes into the shop and wants to buy a pair of sunglasses, how does he indicate what he wants?

Ans. It’s really simple. He opens his mouth and asks for it!

Extracted form 'The Chocolate'.

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