BXP Bankomat
Austrian Bankomat software solution based on Windows XP and CEN XFS
The way a car periodically needs a service, a similar service is necessary for an ATM softwarer solution. Hence, Europay Austria, First Data Austria (former APSS) and the Austrian banks decided to update the 3000 ATMs in Austria at the end of 2004. The project was named BXP Version 1.0. Above all, the software components, which came to the end of their life cycle, were replaced. Any other changes were not necessary because consumer acceptance of the ATM system in Austria remained very high. The following numbers prove this fact: over 95 millions of cash withdrawals with a total of more than 12 billions Euro had been processed during 2005.
Within the scope of the BXP project the operating system was changed from IBM OS/2 to Microsoft Windows XP. For the communication between the ATM software and the particular hardware components it was decided to use the multivendor Standard XFS. In the implementation of the new ATM solution, as already with the OS/2 version of the ATM application, the decision was made in favour of products and skills of Salzburger Banken Software. At the end of 2005 the pilot service of the first BXP ATMs started under the management and a final successful test from First Data Austria and Europay Austria. In the course of the year 2006 all ATMs will have to be changed to the BXP solution. For the change-over it is often necessary to exchange particular hardware components in the ATMs. As a result, numerous technical teams from Diebold, NCR and Wincor Nixdorf are on their way to upgrade the ATMs in Austria in 2006.
One of the requirements for SBS was to remain the general behaviour of the ATMs, so that first, the ATM end-users could find the usual operational sequences after the changeover and second, the central systems of First Data Austria should run unchanged. Merely small details of the user interface were upgraded. With BXP a completely uniform user interface is offered for the first time on all ATM models.
However, technically significant changes were done to the user interface. A so-called GUI engine in the base application from SBS makes it possible for the individual screens to be rendered very fast. The layout of the screens is defined by XML files and particular graphic elements, and therefore can be simply changed. Also the transactions are divided into individual transaction steps, which can be configured by XML files. For this reason, a highly flexible solution can be reached. Moreover, the integration of new functions is fully simplified. Through its use, the BXP solution is ideally prepared for the new requirements.
As well as under OS/2, X.25 is used as a transport protocol for the communication with the central systems at First Data Austria. As soon as a region-wide TCP/IP network is available for ATMs, an adequate change-over can easily follow with the help of the SBS component KIXTransport. KIXTransport is only one of many components of the KI/XFS platform of SBS, which is used in the BXP application to realize a stable and at the same time a multivendor solution for Diebold, NCR and Wincor Nixdorf ATMs. The following diagram shows an overview of the used components in the ATM solution.
In addition, as a part of the project, a portrait camera and a digital video archive of the german company MAKU is supported.
With BXP Europay Austria and the Austrian banks dispose of a state-of-the-art software solution. We are looking forward together with the project partners also in the future to integrate numerous new and interesting functions in the BXP solution.
BXP Overview of the Components
KI/XFS Local Services
Service functions for the local operator like "refill the cash cassettes"
KI/XFS Terminal Control inkl. Device Control
Comfortable and multivendor communication with the hardware components of an ATM
KI/XFS Shell
Protects the operating system against unauthorized user access and manages the different processes running on the ATM
KI/XFS Repository
Saves transaction data for a successful restart caused by a breakdown of the ATM
SBase
Base application for a high level ATM solution inluding flow control defined in XML documents, GUI engine, print journal and electronic journal
Chip Modul EMV (Joint development with First Data Austria)
Plug-in component supporting Austrian (Paychip) and international (EMV) smartcard transactions
Camera Extensions / Camera Inquiry
Components for the query of transaction pictures over the ATM
KIXinstall
The generation of volumes for the complete installation of an ATM as a service of SBS
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