ATM Reading Cheques, CTM-ATM Introduce in Indian Banks

Now there is no more waiting for three days for cheques clearing , withdraw money instantly at ATM itself using Debit card. Few banks in India are testing a technology that facilitates instant cheque encashing at ATMs.

Used widely across North America and Europe, cheque truncating machines (CTM)—the contraption that make real-time cheque verification and clearance possible—sit inside special ATMs that the world’s largest makers of these machines, like US-based NCR Corp and Diebold Inc, are now hawking to few banks in India.

Governmentowned State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender, IDBI and ING Vysya are a few banks that have evinced interest in such ATMs. Banking regulator RBI too has welcomed the move, saying it will be good for customers.

Pradeep Sen, MD, NCR India says that the company has been showcasing its CTM-ATMs to banks in India since last month. “We will also be launching new ATM machines, in which you can just insert a bundle of notes of any denomination.

The ATMs will read the notes, and credit the amount in your account instantly,” he says. Currently, one has to put cash inside an envelope to deposit inside ATM.

It gets credited in about 24 hours. There are over 48,000 ATMs in the country, split between three big makers––NCR , Diebold and Germanybased Wincor Nixdorf.

Function of CTM-ATM

A CTM-ATM scans the cheque inserted in and produces a digital image of the same. It sends the digital cheque image electronically to the IT network of the issuing bank for clearance. Within seconds, the amount is credited to your account, which one can withdraw immediately via a debit card.

Or in case you have lost or misplaced the debit card, issuing a cheque to a friend can solve the cash crunch as she can withdraw the money using her debit card. 

An RBI spokesperson said that banks are already allowed to use CTM (Cheque Truncating Machine) scanners for inter and intra bank purposes. “Earlier it was a technology barrier which prevented cheques to be truncated via ATMs. But with CTMs inside ATM machines, we might see more people joining the banking system,” she adds. CTM-based ATMs will be part of the real time gross settlement (RTGS) already in place in the country’s banking system.

CTM-ATM makers have already made a pitch to the bank recently. SBI quoted that “Since an offering like this will not only increase the convenience for customers but also reduce operational costs for the bank, we are looking at the proposal in greater detail...story source@ET