An alternative to ATM's

A few years ago when ATM’s first opened up, people stopped visiting the bank too frequently. Daily cash withdrawal up to Rs.25, 000 could be done in any ATM itself. Now, SBI has introduced a new channel for withdrawing cash.

State Bank of India (SBI) is allowing cash withdrawal of up to Rs.1000 from any shop/trader who has a point-of-sale (POS) terminal. There will be a fee of Rs.7.50 levied on the same, part of which goes to the trader. For a trader, it means their frequent visits to the bank to deposit money will be reduced. For the consumer, this is another alternative to ATM’s and for banks, the pressure will be reduced as people withdrawing smaller amounts will prefer doing it from a grocery store.

Currently, ICICI, HDFC and Axis Bank are the leading providers of POS terminals amongst private sector banks. And, now SBI has about one-lakh POS terminals. The banking system has over 10.5 lakh terminals and it is only growing.