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N. Ramakrishnan
Raja Simhan T.E.

Chennai , June 24

THE Chennai-based HMA Group, which provides technology solutions to banks, is planning to enter the real estate business. The company has formed a separate firm, HMA Land Pvt Ltd, for this purpose, according to Mr Harish K. Murthi, Managing Director, HMA Data Systems Pvt Ltd, one of the group firms.

The company has four acres of land in Kelambakkam in Chennai on the Old Mahabalipuram Road (IT corridor) and plans to build space for IT firms.

There is a huge potential for real estate business in the city. "We are working out the business model, which is still at a nascent stage," he told Business Line.

Another group concern, CashLink Global Systems Pvt Ltd, is talking to various banks to get space in branches to set up a customer relationship centre that would have a kiosk, cash dispenser and bank employees to assist customers.

Banks have been focussing on setting up automated teller machines (ATMs). However, the company is telling them to modernise their branches, and bring back customers, he said.

Banks need to pull back customers to branches and create opportunity to cross sell their products. Today, customers use ATMs for most of their banking, and hardly visit banks, he said.

CashLink would provide the facility on a monthly or annual fee. It could cost Rs 10-12 lakh a branch to have facilities like a kiosk and cash dispenser, which the company would provide. In three to six months, the company will have a model branch with such facilities, he said.

According to Mr Murthi, who is Chairman and Managing Director of CashLink Global, there are around 68,000 branches in the country, and even if 10 per cent of them have such a modern facility, it would be a big market for the company, he said.The HMA Group is likely to report revenues of Rs 20-30 crore for fiscal ending March 31, 2006 compared to Rs 40 crore last fiscal.

The 2005-06 numbers do not include revenues from ATM managed services and payments processing solution of India Switch Company (a group company) that was sold to eFunds for $20 million, he said.

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