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Money... any time?
THE RECENT run on bank deposits of India's second largest bank by nervous customers meant they gave more credence to rumours than to the institution's rock-solid fundamentals, when over Rs. 550 crores was withdrawn from the bank's ATMs in 72 hours. This created a sensation among financial circles, and only the assuring statement of the Reserve Bank of India that all was well with India's first universal bank scotched the rumours, and customers heaved a sigh of relief.
However, officials of a few other banks had reason to smile, reiterating that such a situation would never arise in their cases. The reason? Their ATMs were not exactly in tip-top condition, not definitely dispensing `Any Time Money', as they touted their services to be. One bank office partly took cover from continuous payment by keeping its teller machines closed after business hours, a move it jettisoned after customer protests.
Another made its machines programmed for inward credit and remittances that could not be withdrawn through the ATMs the same day after office hours. So, when they don't dispense cash inspite of a healthy account balance, or sometimes even deny access to ATM enclosures (with jammed doors), how will there be a run on their money? This argument provided food for thought. Cases are aplenty when customers at ATMs did not receive cash, but the transaction slip showed an account debit. There were other cases of cash payment without any debit shown on the slip!
In a case of short-changing, a travelling customer at a pilgrim town received only part payment, while his transaction slip claimed that he had been paid in full. The customer had to wait till the next morning at the branch for the balance payment. There was another bizarre case of a private bank's ATM dispensing counterfeit currency. The customer's complaint was initially of no avail, and only after he revealed his standing as the MD of a large government-owned bank was he compensated with legal tender. However, to be fair to all banks, the ATM service is being offered to customers as an alternative and additional service, mostly offered free of charge.
Recently, a national conference was held in Mumbai, to analyse the ATM issues of experience, expectations, trends and technologies in India. The facts and figures that emerged were an eye-opener.
With over 18 million cards in use, ATMs in India dispensed over Rs. 55,000 crores during the financial year 2003, and 90 per cent of retail cash transactions were through ATMs, the transactions exceeding the ones of credit cards.
The value addition of debit card services offered by banks has meant safe shopping and hassle-free travel. Other banks too have joined in, enlarging their ATM network, also tying up with other banks, distributing ATM cards.
Further, some banks have not educated customers enough on the cards — basic usage, resulting in people either losing their cards in the machine, as also instances of panic-stricken customers after a late-night transaction breaking the glass door to exit the ATM enclosure.
Today, with every bank promoting its USP as relationship banking and personalised service, one wonders how this can be when the thrust seems to be on making customers transact business with faceless machines in remote enclosures.
Over the past two decades there have been quantum leaps in generations of global technology, but customers using ATMs in India are still confronted with teething problems and technical snags.
M.J.KRISHNA
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