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Archana Venkat

Beyond mainstream banking

Chennai , June 28

Jeevan and his friends paid their college fees close to midnight this May. These students of Vellore Institute of Technology paid their fees through the SBI ATM in their campus.

No, they did not draw cash and pay the college, but simply transferred the money into the college account by keying in their admission numbers and a few other details into the ATM. This new facility allows students from around 10 universities to pay their fees through ATMs.

Banks are luring customers to ATMs with more than just cash options. Cashing in on their ATM network, banks are experimenting with customised applications that extend beyond mainstream banking.

ICICI Bank offers a bunch of mobile and other connectivity services. It has tied up with Airtel, BPL, Spice Telecom and Aircel in select areas to provide re-charge cards. Internet connection and renewal packs offered by Tata Indicom and Sify are now only an ATM away.

SBI offers Hundi deposit facility in a tie up with Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam. ICICI Bank has extended this service to perform Manorath/Rajbhog at the Mata Vaishnodevi shrine and Nathdwara temple.

Mutual funds

One can also invest in mutual funds for amounts starting at Rs 500 through ATMs. On the anvil are provisions for investing in fixed deposit through ATMs.

Railway reservation and ticketing facilities have been introduced in the Bangalore Circle of SBI and this may extend to Chennai Circle, say the authorities at the Technology and Communications Cell, SBI, Chennai.

These new applications are not restricted to urban India. Rural ATMs can be operable without owning an ATM card. Small farmers can now use their kisan credit cards to access ATMs.

The addition of such services has not affected the speed of transaction or jammed banking networks. One only has to modify the software to add another option to the ATM menu and this does not involve large expenses, say bankers.

Currently, none of these add-on services are being directly charged to the customer. Banks have arrangements with institutions over charging a fee for such services.

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