On Tuesday, RapiPay (1) said that it aims to deploy 5 lakh micro ATMs over the next two years in the country. It believes that for ATM cash withdrawals, Micro ATMs (mATMs) are game-changers for Indian consumers. It is more productive for the marginalized population located in cities and towns and rural India.
RapiPay is a fintech subsidiary that uses a franchised retail network to provide banking business correspondents services and launched mATMs. Also, RapiPay holds a Pre-Paid Instrument (PPI) license from the RBI.
The Effects of the Installation of RapiPay Micro ATMs
Yogendra Kashyap, RapiPay MD and CEO said that they could install over 25,000 devices within a month of its launch. RapiPay Micro ATMs are revolutionary in comparison to conventional ATMs. It offers the utmost ease to the consumers enabling them to withdraw cash. They can also do other similar banking activities at any RapiPay Saathi store without moving kilometers for ATM.
Micro ATMs and AePS (Aadhaar Enabled Payment System) availability is convenient for people to find banks in the neighborhood. Other services like money transfer, bill, and taxes payments with nearby shopkeeper is also a big savior, he added.
The fintech player said that mATMs were instrumental in facilitating cash withdrawals in the current pandemic. The withdrawals of the government’s disbursement of 1.75 lakh crore INR into Jan Dhan accounts were easy to execute. It was useful for workers, laborers, and farmers, who were out of work and needed cash.
RBI’s Latest Data on ATM Placements in the Country
The latest Reserve Bank of India data says that of the 2.2 lakh ATMs in the country, the installation of only 19 percent of those is in rural areas, where 62% of the Indian population resides. Besides the low penetration in rural areas, the total number of ATMs is declining every consecutive year.
Thus, there is growing demand and higher penetration for mATMs to reach the country’s last mile. It will help to address the problems faced by the rural population in fulfilling their cash withdrawal requirement.
