ATMs go biometric for reach

 

MUMBAI: If you thought ATMs are meant only for the 'educated hi tech', you are mistaken.

 

Banks are modifying the automated teller machines so that they can reach out to more people, especially those in the lower strata of society.

 

In keeping with the trend, Citibank on Friday became the first bank in India to launch ATMs operated by biometric technology. This allows personal identification using unique physical characteristics such as fingerprints and facial recognition. This is ideal for the illiterate as there are no signatures or ATM identification codes involved.

 

“This is a first-of-its-kind offering from Citibank globally and we hope to test it at a few places before we expand it,”said P S Jayakumar, country business manager, global consumer group, Citibank.

 

Citibank’s ATM cards, which are issued to the bank's Pragati Savings Account holders, work like the normal ATM except that, instead of the pin code the user has to place the right hand thumb on the machine. The machine is multilingual and the user has to just follow instructions in the preferred language. The buttons are also colour coded (eg yellow for deposit, green for withdrawal) for easier use.

 

Though Citibank has become the first bank to actually allow customers to use this technology, other banks have also shown interest to take technology to the masses.

 

Financial Information Network and Operations (Fino), a technology company in which ICICI Bank holds a 20% stake, is working on a handheld manually-operated ATM for the rural areas.

 

Under the concept, a bank representative carries a ATM-like machine to rural areas for easier bank transaction. The users will be given a biometric card which they can be used for identification.

 

Banks should be able to reach two million rural customers in West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala by March 2007 through our product, said Manish Khera, CEO, Fino.

 

Two of Citi's biometric ATMs are already installed in Mumbai and Hyderabad, with 700 customers already on the rolls. The bank plans to launch such machines in Kolkata, Indore and New Delhi too. Citibank hopes to reach 50,000 customers through 25-35 such ATMs in the next 12 to 18 months, said Mona Kachhwaha, business manager, Citibank microfinance.

 

Citibank is looking to partner with microfinance institutions to set up these ATMs. It has already tied up with two institutions, Basix in Hyderabad and Swadhaar Finaccess in Mumbai, for the purpose.

 

Citibank will also give a ATM pin code with the biometric card so that the customers can also use any of Citibank's normal ATMs.

 

It is no surprise that banks are trying to embrace the poor. Tremendous competition in the sector has forced banks to reach out to people who were earlier ignored.

 

The banks hope to get a business boost with these modernisations. “For this to sustain it should break even and make money,” Jayakumar said. In fact Citibank hopes to extend its loan business to such clients after monitoring their saving potential.

 

 

Citibank’s ATM cards are issued to Pragati Savings Account holders

 

Instead of the pin code, the user has to place the right hand thumb on the machine for identification

 

Financial Information Network and Operations is also working on a handheld manually-operated ATM