Source:26 Mar 2010, 0446 hrs IST, Shelley Singh, ET Bureau
NEW DELHI: Since their launch over two decades ago in India, automated teller machines, or ATMs, have changed little. Their limited services comprise dispensing cash, printing mini statements and accepting requests for cheque books. But, many banks are now working to make the dumb ATMs smarter and banking simpler. The smart terminals, they expect, will combine the convenience of ATMs with the versatility of bank branches.
In their improved avatar, the machines will allow customers to pay taxes and bills, buy or sell products such as mutual funds, book air tickets and swiftly get cheques cleared, bankers say.
“Next-generation ATMs will be a blend of internet kiosks and cash points. They will get closer to being a self-service branch,” says Sanjay Sharma, MD & CEO, IDBI Intech, the technology arm of IDBI Bank. Among the solutions being devised at IDBI Intech’s ATM test lab in Navi Mumbai are those that will allow bill payments and quick clearance of checks.
Haragopal M, global head of Finacle, the banking solution from Infosys Technologies, believes tomorrow’s ATMs will be more interactive, with voice, data and video capabilities. “The machines will be able to suggest solutions and have an interactive dialogue with users. These could also tweet product ideas and post financial advice on your social networking site,” he says.
Around villages near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, HDFC Bank is piloting a ‘bank on wheels’, taking the ATM to people. PNB is doing trials on a micro-deposit module to help people access banking services with amounts as low as Rs 10. And Yes Bank is starting pilots on video phone banking starting April.
The upgrade of the machines that have mainly spewed cash till now comes at a time when their numbers are increasing. From about 20,000 two years ago, the number of ATMs increased to 45,000 in 2009 and is poised to cross 100,000 by 2013, according to RBR, a London-based retail banking research group.
ATM makers are more optimistic. Manjunath Rao, country manager, at NCR India thinks that with their cost-effectiveness and new applications, the
six figure mark could be reached before that. “More people are using ATMs today and the number of transactions has risen 25-30% in the last year. Adding more applications adds more value,” he says.
While the number of transactions has increased, much of the value addition and information that users get at ATMs are not focussed to specific customer needs. That’s where banks like Yes Bank see an opportunity.
“Video phone banking at ATMs is going to be the most disruptive change around ATMs. Customers will get product advice or problem resolution using video phones,” its CIO Umesh Jain says.
ATMs will also play a larger role in sales, using real-time business intelligence for more focussed selling, he adds. “While some ATMs have sales information, it is similar information displayed for all customers — more like carpet-bombing instead of focused shooting.”
Banks are drawing inspiration from retailers like Amazon which frequently suggest ‘buyers of this book also bought...’ In future, customers could walk into an ATM to buy a particular mutual fund and instantly get references to similar funds with their net asset values and take decisions.
Shalini Mehta, EVP, Kotak Mahindra Bank, says the ATM is changing into a more evolved channel to fulfil customer needs. Some of the new offerings will include mobile recharge, bill payments, booking tickets, printing statements, updating pass books as well as transfer of funds within and outside the bank.
HDFC Bank has launched a new initiative to make ATMs more intelligent and help faster cash withdrawals. Customers have the option of setting a preferred withdrawal amount as a favourite transaction. It is 40% faster than normal cash withdrawals and since the bank launched it about 60% of HDFC Bank users have opted for it, says Harish Shetty, EVP, Information Technology.
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