CAC Bank Relies on the AirLink Raven X for Reliable and Secure Connectivity

About Cooperative & Agriculture Credit (CAC) Bank: CAC Bank is an independent financial institution based in the Republic of Yemen and currently serves both public and private organizations, as well as individuals, to provide full-service commercial banking, including accounts, loans, credit cards, investing and foreign currency exchange.

Challenges

CAC Bank needed to move beyond Yemen’s limited wired telecommunications infrastructure to develop the reliable data transmission solutions required for secure point-of-sale (POS) and automated teller machine (ATM) transactions throughout the regions of Yemen that it serves. The institution began investigating cellular connectivity options and tested products from suppliers in Singapore and China, but the bank found the stability of the devices lacking.

Solution

With the help of Sierra Wireless partner Prodigy Systems, CAC Bank selected the AirLink™ Raven X intelligent gateway to meet the bank’s stringent data transmission requirements. The Raven X features a high-speed Ethernet interface and 3G-optimized architecture, as well as ALEOS™ feature-rich intelligence, which – in conjunction with the AirLink Device Management tools – enables remote configuration, packet-level diagnostics and reliable network session persistence. After the success of both initial testing and a small pilot project of two devices, CAC Bank has now deployed about 40 Raven X gateways across its banking facilities.

“After only six months, we’ve already realized a difference in cost and productivity,” said Al-Suraimi, network administrator at CAC Bank.  “The operating cost for our ATM, POS and branch connectivity has dropped by seventy-five percent, and we are no longer restricted to only landline-available areas when we need to place an ATM or open a small office.”

CAC Bank has also experienced an increased volume of ATM transactions, jumping by more than 10 times the number of transactions seen before using the cellular solution.

CAC Bank’s cellular connectivity solution using AirLink Raven X gateways produced the following benefits:

• Reduced capital costs by eliminating the need to install additional landlines
• Lowered operating expenses by 75% by converting from landlines to lower cost cellular service
• Increased service area and overall growth potential by enabling wireless ATM installations
• Provided device portability for re-deployment if ATMs and POS terminals are re-located
• Improved customer service by providing more ATM locations and increased uptime