The Hindu Business Line : Future ATMs will do a lot more than just dispense cash

Mumbai May 11 From now, automated teller machines (ATMs) may be more than cash dispensing machines. NCR Corporation, maker of ATMs, has come up with models that can help bank customers make bill payments, buy airline, railway or cinema tickets, print passbooks and renew their driving licence.

"NCR is already in the process of deploying or evaluating such systems for banks. It will trim costs, generate revenue and hold customers in the future," said Mr Deepak Chandnani, Managing Director, NCR Corporation India Pvt. Ltd.

Mr Chandnani said that while these ATMs cost more than the conventional models they would let banks put through the new set of transactions, which are currently carried out manually at a great expense in the branches.

"The future of ATMs and self-service terminals lies in multi-tasking," he said.

There are over 25,000 ATMs in the country and banks are increasingly looking at embedding additional services on ATMs. "The natural transition we have seen globally is that once a bank has a sizable ATM footprint, it starts looking at new banking transactions such as accepting deposits on ATMs and other avenues of revenue generation. We think it is only a matter of time before India will see the true multi-tasking functionality of the ATM beyond only cash dispensing," said Mr Chandnani.

NCR also feels ATMs have a pertinent role to play in rural markets. With the RBI's directive on `financial inclusion' and the growing rural markets, the company anticipates large deployment of self-service machines (ATMs and kiosks) that can identify people using their fingerprints, work on voice commands and in multiple languages.

NCR has already launched an ATM that functions in harsh climatic conditions such as heat and dust, and even when there is a power cut.

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