Banco Popular To Introduce ‘Easy-Deposit’ ATMs On St. Croix, St. Thomas; Already On St. John

SAN JUAN–Banking customers on St. Croix and St. Thomas desiring to deposit cash and checks without the hassle of waiting in line at a local branch, will soon have the convenience of 24-hour, self-service depositing through Banco Popular’s Easy Deposit machines, which are expected to roll out in 2015. In fact, customers on St. John are already enjoying the service, bank representatives say.

On Monday, the VI Consortium met with Banco Popular executives at the company’s world headquarters in San Juan to learn more about what the bank is doing to enhance its services in the Virgin Islands. Oran Bowry, senior vice president and division manager for the Virgin Islands region, said the new machines are one way the bank is beefing up its technology.

“The Easy Deposit terminals have done very well on St. John and we’re doing about five thousand transactions at that location, which is really good,” she said.

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Bowry went on explain that the ATM terminals, which she described as having “some smart features to it,” will allow customers to deposit “cash and it’s immediately credited real time to your account.” In fact, the use of deposit envelopes will be eliminated.

“The days when you have to put your check in the envelope and wait for us to check the ATM, to open that envelope and post to your account, is now gone,” she said.

While the technology is not at all new, as it is widely used across the United States, Bowry said the single machine currently operating on St. John brings the technology to the USVI for the first time. She pointed out that it made sense to launch the Easy Deposit machines on St. John because the island does not have the population to service a full Banco Popular branch.

“St. John was the prime opportunity since we did not have any presence there in St. John,” Bowry explained. “So, it was a natural fit.”

While Bowry said the new machines will come to St. Croix and St. Thomas next year, she did not provide a specific date as to when the service is expected to be available.

When asked about existing drive through teller machines requiring repairs on St. Croix, including at both the Orange Grove and Sunny Isle locations, Bowry said, “In Sunny Isle, we suffered some technology issues, we got some water in the vacuum and it just didn’t make sense to repair it because we saw the usage dropped more than seventy percent. Obviously because it’s isolated in the back and people weren’t as comfortable with the rash of robberies that were happening in Sunny Isles, people ceased to use it. It just did not make business sense any more for us [to keep it operational].”

However, Bowry said the challenge is different at the Orange Grove drive through teller service, which has been down for three months.

“We are having a hard time getting the equipment to repair that,” she said. “Of course, everything has to be flown in to the Virgin Islands, because we don’t have a local parts store that we can just go to. So, that’s been a challenge for us. But that will definitely be up and running as soon as we can get over the equipment issues.”

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On a broader scale, bank representatives said rather than expanding its brick and mortar locations across the territory–that is to say, to build new branches–Banco Popular, which has a total of nine branches between St. Croix and St. Thomas, will expand its reach through technology.

“We do a lot of study before we determine what the need will be for a branch and at this point, I think we’ve covered the the target areas that we have needed,” Bowry said, adding, “We’ve hit mid point, Frederiksted and Christiansted. I don’t see us expanding another branch.”

She continued, “There’s such a greater need for technology expansion. Our expansion is looking at integrating more technology into the market.”

And, according to recently appointed company president, Ignacio Alvarez, who assumed the position on October 1 after serving in many different capacities at Banco Popular, mobile banking is king.

“Mobile banking has really taken off,” he said. “In the beginning, people would use the mobile just to check their balances, now people are actually transacting–paying their bills. And the thing is, we didn’t make it easy for them.”

Alvarez explained that if mobile banking customers want to add a new merchant to their mobile app, they can only do so through a computer.

“We’re working on ways to engage them, but there’s no doubt that the cellphone has revolutionized banking and we see it in our clients,” he said, adding, “It’s like, if you build it, they will come. If you make it available on a mobile phone, they will use it.

“And the challenge is how do you do that while at the same time making the data secure is a humongous issue,” he continued.

In addition to mobile banking, Alvarez said a new electronic check-scanning and deposit service, which is still in beta testing, is being offered to select clients.

“The check scanning is a beautiful technology, but also requires a lot of security,” he said. “Again, the challenge of banking today is how do you make it more convenient, more mobile, but make it safe. It’s a challenge.”

Bowry said the Virgin Islands also has a similar pilot program for remote depositing.

“We’ve been working with the Internal Revenue Bureau for a year now to develop that product specifically for them and attach the security,” she said. “So, we’re in the final phase of our roll out right now and by next tax season, we will have it up and running.”

Photo Credit: Banco Popular, San Juan