On 6th December 2021, the Finance Ministry announced that around 2.13 Lakh Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) have been installed across India by the end of September 2021.
- Out of 2.13 lakh ATMs, 4 percent of ATMs are installed in rural and semi-urban areas.
Key Points:
i.According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), scheduled commercial banks have installed 2,13,145 ATMs till September 2021.
- In addition, 27,837 White Label ATMs (WLA) were also installed.
Target –
i.RBI has directed the WLA operators must deploy a minimum of 1,000 ATMs every year
ii.WLA should maintain a deployment ratio of 1:2:3 for metro and urban, semi-urban and rural regions respectively.
Note – WLA scheme was introduced as an extended delivery channel for banking services, especially in tier III and VI centres.
About Automated Teller Machines (ATM)
It is an electronic device that enables customers to withdraw cash , deposit cash, transfer funds, or obtain account information, at any time.
- The first ATM was launched by Barclays Bank in 1967 in London.
- First ATM in India was introduced by HSBC in 1987
Types of ATM:
Based on location:
On site ATM:
ATMs that are situated either within the branch or in close premises of the branch for customers convenience.
Offsite ATMs:
ATMs will be located outside the bank like shopping malls, railway stations, airports and petrol pumps etc.
Worksite ATM:
ATMs that are located within the premises of an organisation that is only for the employees of that organization.
Mobile ATM:
These ATMs move to various areas for easy transactions of money for customers convenience. They are also called ATMs on wheels.
- ICICI BANK was the first private sector bank to start a mobile ATM in India.
Based on operation:
White Label ATM:
i.White Label ATMs(WLAs) are provided by a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) that is set up, owned and operated by non-bank entities, authorized under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, by the RBI.
- Cash in ATMs is provided by the sponsored bank and the ATM machine does not have any branding of the Bank.
ii.The ATM operators will receive a fee from the banks for the use of ATM resources by the bank’s customers and does not charge bank’s customers directly.
Role – To enable transactions of all banks customers by establishing technical connectivity with authorized ATM Network Operators or Card Payment Network Operators.
iii.Tata Communications Payment Solutions Limited (Indicash) is the first company authorized by RBI to open WLAs in the country.
Note – RBI is directly involved as the WLAs have to separately get license from RBI to run business.
Brown Label ATMs:
i.The private company owns & operates the ATM machine, pays office rent.
ii.The bank which has outsourced this work will provide cash for Brown Label ATMs.
iii.The ATM has the logo of that bank which has outsourced this work.
Note – RBI not directly involved and the banks that outsource the work will have contracts with the companies.
Green Label ATM – The ATM is provided for Agricultural Transaction.
Orange Label ATM – The ATM is provided for Share Transactions.
Yellow Label ATM – This is set up for the purpose of E-commerce.
Pink label ATM – They are accessed only by women for the purpose to avoid women standing in long queues of ATMs.
Biometric ATM – The ATMs use security features like fingerprint scanner and eye scanner of the customer to access the bank details.
Recent Related News:
In August 2021, RBI introduced a scheme named ‘Scheme of Penalty for non-replenishment of ATMs’ to levy monetary charges or penalty on banks & WLA operators for cash-out (Non-availability of cash) in ATMs due to non-replenishment of cash.
About Ministry of Finance (MoF):
Union Minister – Nirmala Sitharaman (Constituency – Karnataka)
Minister of State – Pankaj Chaudhary (Constituency – Maharajganj, Uttar Pradesh), Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad (Constituency – Maharashtra)
