Use of ATMs

Use of ATMs

Cash Withdrawal and Balance Enquiry

In spite of a number of innovative services being made available at many ATMs, cash withdrawal stills remains the most accessed service at ATMs. However, the migration of routine bank transactions like cash withdrawals and balance enquiries from teller counters to ATMs significantly raises the potential for savings in employee costs and greater employee focus on value-added revenue-enhancing activities such as selling other financial products and advisory services to customers.

Cash /Cheque Deposit

Again, due to the strong cash culture in India, cash deposits are most likely higher than in other markets, especially cash deposits made by commercial customers such as retail shopkeepers and those whose work involves substantial travelling. A high cash withdrawal rate results in higher ATM servicing costs due to frequent cash replenishment requirements. Recent developments in ATM technology have made it possible to recycle cash in ATMs. Currency notes received as cash deposits are counted; soiled notes separated and deposited cash dispensed to fulfil withdrawal transactions. However, regulatory concerns relating to identification of counterfeit notes and its depositors need to be addressed first.

ATM with Cheque deposit facility is not picking up in India, like other countries. One of the reasons is the delay in collection of the cheque deposited in ATMs. Cheque deposited in ATMs is to be collected and deposited in the designated branch for collection. Another reason is the introduction of cheque deposit Kiosks by various Banks especially Private sector ones. These are kept at each some important locations/branches where customers can deposit there cheques which are collected at intervals which may be difficult in ATMs.

Bill Payments

Most utilities have inadequate infrastructure for receiving bill payments resulting in long queues at collection centres. Hence, bill payment at ATMs has achieved noticeable acceptance by bank customers. Most banks provide this service through bi-lateral arrangements with bill-payment service providers. ATM users register their water, electricity and telephone utility accounts with banks, check their dues at ATMs, approve bill payments that are debited to their bank accounts and receive printed receipts for the transactions. This service has the effect of improving customer satisfaction for both the bank as well as the bill-payment service providers. Some Banks’ ATMs even accept charitable contributions to Temples.

Sale of Paper Based Products

ATMs are ideally suited to sell paper-based products and services such as tickets, wireless phone recharge cards, financial products, etc. The screen interface allows browsing and customization, access to bank accounts facilitate payments and printing capabilities produce the actual product/service.

A number of banks including ICICI Bank, SBI and PNB have ATMs at Mumbai’s local railway stations to dispense season tickets to commuters. Own-bank customers pay no extra charge while other bank customers pay a fee of Rs. 50 for this extremely useful service of anytime ticket purchase. Railway season tickets represent a high-volume mass-appeal product. As technical standards get established and product/service sellers become aware of the ATM sales channel, niche-appeal high-margin products like entertainment tickets will join the fray.

Kiosks

Information Kiosks has been introduced by many Banks and also by PSUs like Railways, Tourist centres etc. While the revenue-producing capacity of non-emergency type of information at ATMs as a stand-alone product is doubtful, many customers may be willing to pay a nominal fee for information having “impulsive” demand such as cricket scores while they wait for their transactions to be processed. To be sure, providing information, whether priced or free, will appeal to some customers and increase customer satisfaction.

Union Bank has used technology to establish Village Knowledge Centres (VKCs), which have proved to be a success in the 198 centres, where they have been set up. VKCs empower the local rural population by giving them information on various vital inputs such as weather, fertilizers, prices of crops, etc. The bank is also operating financial education centres offering counselling at 51 of these VKCs.

Third Party Advertising

In India, ATM advertising for third-party products is currently not allowed by Regulatory authorities. However, the wait time at ATMs can be effectively used by banks to promote their own brands, product and services. Furthermore, banks can tailor advertising messages based on customer information easily available in their accounting and CRM databases. Customer wait-time at ATMs while transactions get processed, typically between 10 to 25 seconds, has been profitably used by many banks for their own advertising.

Money Transfers

Indians, who have migrated abroad or to cities, regularly use money orders and wire transfers to send money to their families back home. ATM growth, especially in rural India, will capture substantial business from the expensive wire transfer agents’ network and the customer-service lacking postal network. In line with international trends, ATMs can be made capable to dispense printed money orders or initiate wire transfers against a charge on customers’ bank accounts. After addressing regulatory hurdles, these services can even be made available to non-account holders through cash payments using the currency acceptors built into ATMs. ATMs can also facilitate the encashment of wire transfer amounts by allowing even non-account holders to withdraw cash based on PINs or previously mailed special-purpose ATM cards.

Recharge Mobiles via ATMs

ATMs are also used to recharge mobile phones. Initiated in 2004 by ICICI Bank, now most ATM/Debit Cardholders are able to recharge their pre-paid subscriptions of most mobile service providers from anywhere in the country using their bank‘s ATMs or by sending a SMS.
The amount for recharging the mobile phone would be debited from the subscriber‘s Bank account and the subscription would be directly recharged accordingly. The mobile top-up facility provides convenience on ATMs and through mobile phones using SMS.