As more and more nations are feeling the effects of the COVID-19 virus, virtually every aspect of our lives have been impacted in one way or another.
To decrease the speed at which the virus spreads, social distancing, curfews, and in some areas commercial business shutdowns of all but essential services have become the norm.
The economic impacts of this global pandemic are enormous and are forcing quick action by governments around the world to provide relief for citizens, while also providing protections against the virus.
As the pandemic spread into the Western hemisphere, the government of Honduras found it necessary to announce a national-level curfew would be starting on the night of March 16th. At this same time, banks in the country were asked to find ways to assist businesses with providing financial relief in the form of salary advances to their employees during the pandemic. A handful of banks were able to do this as a teller transaction. However, Banco Atlantida, the largest bank in Honduras, and a long-time customer of Euronet, wanted to go the extra mile for their customers.
The bank has the largest ATM fleet in Honduras, with over 450 ATMs at locations throughout the country. Banco Atlantida’s leadership had the idea that by making the salary advances available at the ATM, not only would it be more convenient for their customers since ATMs have 24-hour availability, but it could be potentially safer for their customers since ATM transactions don’t require face-to-face contact and would be in line with social-distancing guidelines.
Recognizing the importance of the request, Euronet’s software implementation team committed to deliver the transaction even though the project posed a significant challenge due to the quick turnaround and resource constraints, as well as the fact that this new transaction had implications for other ongoing projects and dependencies. Despite these challenges, with a true team effort and a determined mindset the project was delivered successfully in time for the new salary advance transaction at the ATM to be available at the start of the curfew.
Teresa Barry is Global Product Marketing Manager for Euronet’s Self Service Banking Solutions. Prior to joining Euronet in 2015 Teresa has worked for more than 20 years in software product development and marketing, with a focus on customer/user experience.
