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Kisan ATMs and Branch-on-Wheels

AGS Infotech has launched ‘Kisan ATMs’ in alliance with Wincor Nixdorf International, to cater to the banking needs of rural India and to accelerate the ongoing efforts to facilitate financial inclusion.

‘Kisan ATMs’ resemble normal ATMs, but these have been developed keeping the rural banking customer in mind. A rural depositor is a simple person with simple needs and often he cannot read or write. AGS Infotech has incorporated features like fingerprint verification and voice guided animated screens with one touch-enabled transaction, eliminating complex navigation menus in their ATMs.

These ATMs recognise voice commands in the vernacular lingua franca in a region’s accent. Sunil Udupa, CEO & President, AGS Infotech said, ”To cater to the power challenges faced in the rural areas, the ATM uses only 240 watts of power when not in use and about 400 watts, while in use. These low power requirements can be achieved by attaching a solar UPS to an ATM. Citizens in rural India are already accustomed to the use of fingerprints for general identification; hence we see great potential for our products. In the short run we expect a market size of 200 to 300 such ATMs. However, in the next five years this market is expected to grow to at least 2,000 biometric ATMs across rural and urban India.” These biometric ATMs can be customised to suit customer requirements. “We are currently installing our Kisan ATMs for five banks,” adds Udupa.

These ATMs will help banks facilitate financial inclusion, “According to the new government directive, every PSU is expected to adopt a particular district for financial inclusion, which means that the respective bank will have to ensure that all the residents of that area have bank accounts. The most efficient and cost-effective way to do this is by setting up ATMs in mobile banking units or ‘Branch-On-Wheels’.

“With our mobile banking facility, banks can deliver a full range of banking services to customers living in rural communities and remote locations at an economical cost, making financial inclusion not only a reality but also facilitating profitable rural banking,” said Udupa. The Branch-on-wheel would carry a ‘Kisan ATM’ from village to village.

The company also displayed its Check Truncation Kiosk, meant for about 80 percent of all non-cash transactions. One of these is already deployed at ING Vysya, Bangalore. Kiosks installed inside the ATM room will serve customers all 24-hours. Cheque Truncation Kiosks are capable of satisfying all the requirements put down by the RBI, namely: scanning the front and rear of the cheque, capturing and storing the MICR code and endorsing a cheque.