The past 10 days have been harrowing, to say the least, in terms of withdrawing money from either banks or ATMs. Both entail long queues and cash shortages, leading to most people either switching to card payments or cutting down on expenses altogether. But, there will always be those little payments that require cash, or emergencies that will drive you to the nearest ATM. But, if you aren’t sure which ATM might have an assured cash reserve at the moment, help is at hand.
While CashNoCash, a website, helps users find which nearest bank or ATM has cash available, personal finance manager Walnut has introduced a new feature on its app that points users to ATMs with cash availability. The feature allows users to find a working #ATMwithCash by tracking aggregate ATM withdrawals across India in real time.
According to Anurag Sinha, co-founder of Walnut, they came up with the idea soon after the demonetisation was announced. “The coding for the feature was done over the weekend, and by Monday, it had gone live. In fact, the introduction of this app has resulted in an 800 per cent increase in downloads. On Tuesday alone, we had nearly one lakh downloads of the app,” he says.
The app, which is essentially an expense tracker, tracks ATM withdrawals by its users and prompts him/her to provide information about the situation at that particular cash-dispensing machine. “Factors such as crowd, cash availability, etc. are sought. This data is then used to map live and active ATMs in an area. Anyone looking to withdraw cash has to only click on this new tab for instant information on what is available around them,” he explains.
The makers of the app also plan to update the feature once the new Rs. 500 and Rs. 2,000 notes are made available at ATMs. “The app will then provide data on which ATM can dispense what denomination of currency,” says Anurag, adding that they’ve had an overwhelming response since the feature went live. The data from the app can also be shared via WhatsApp and social media platforms.
