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Vishwanath Kulkarni

In the future, you can pay your phone and electricity bills and book movie tickets too — using the ATM.

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HINK of an ATM (Automated Teller Machine) and the picture of a cash vending machine is conjured up in one's mind. But ATMs are going beyond cash now. One can expect a slew of value-added services, be it dispensing of mobile top-ups or season railway tickets or payment of electricity or water bills or movie tickets, for that matter, from these cash vending machines over the next few months. ATM vendor NCR India recently test-marketed the concept of dispensing mobile top-ups with AirTel and ICICI in Delhi. "This has proved to be a major success," says N.M. Suprabhat, Country Manager, NCR India. NCR is also in talks with Central Railways and the SBI to dispense railway tickets through the ATMs.

Explaining the modus operandi, Suprabhat says a simple concept is followed for dispensing the season ticket, or prepaid refilling and movie ticket. For each of these transactions, the ATM machine is equipped with an additional switch which routes the query to the respective server. For instance, if the user wishes to conduct a transaction for a season ticket, all he has to do is select the respective option on the screen after he inserts his ATM card. Once the required service has been selected, the machine uses either the financial transaction switch or the season ticket switch to complete the same, he says.

The ATM was considered a novelty till some time ago. However, with the entry of private sector banks, ATMs have mushroomed not only in the urban Indian landscape but have also started dotting the semi-urban countryside, especially the B class cities and smaller towns. Industry observers say the reason for the penetration of ATMs into B class towns and cities is mainly due to the aggressive strategy public sector banks have been forced to adopt. While the private sector banks went on to adopt technology to gain customer base, the public sector banks have been forced to toe the technology line in a bid to retain their customer base. Over the last couple of months, one would have come across a slew of advertisements, especially from public sector banks announcing the installation of ATMs in various cities and towns. There are more than 1,000 ATMs in cities such as Delhi and Mumbai. The retail banking scene is getting hotter by the day with banks going all out to boost access points. Despite this, India stands at the bottom of the ladder when compared to other countries in terms of penetration/installation. While the global average stands between 400-500 ATMs per million population, it stands at 7 as far as India is concerned. India has a little over 7,000 ATMs for its one billion-plus populace. Japan leads the pack with 1200-1300 ATMs per million with the US coming next at 900-1000 ATMs per million. Even China is ahead of India with 44-45 ATMs per million people. The ATM market in India has been witnessing a tremendous growth in the last few years. According to sources, it grew by a whopping 100 per cent in 2000 and 2001.

NCR estimates that about 1 lakh ATMs will be installed across India over the next seven years. Local language is also gaining prominence and ATMs with multilingual programme are becoming common. ATMs have emerged as a preferred channel for banks as compared to the traditional branch banking or Internet banking.

vishwa@thehindu.co.in

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