Advertisers try to reach the customer at the right place, right time and with the right message, only to capture his attention. If they fail, nothing can be achieved; they can neither alter his behavior nor persuade him to buy products. Can banks leverage on this medium over and above attracting customer attention?
The Automated Teller Machine made its appearance in the marketplace, when a small community bank in Canandaigua, New York, installed what was then known as a CBCT (Customer Bank Communications Terminal) at an offsite location. Since then, the machine underwent metamorphosis to evolve into today's web-enabled advanced ATM. In the past, it was a mere money spigot for customers and, for banks a non-branch interface. But today, ATMs are profit-drivers for banks and for customers a one-stop shop for majority of their commercial transactions.
From its humble origin as a personal computer, with a safe attached, the ATM is emerging into a multifunction kiosk. Apart from money, ATMs are used to buy postage stamps, to pay bills, encash checks, purchase tickets for everythingfrom bus rides to sporting eventsand as a fillip for the burgeoning prepaid telecom market, ATMs also serve as recharge terminals wherein customers can add prepaid airtime directly from their mobile phones. The scope for other value-added services seems to be high. It appears that in India, ATMs are eagerly waiting for an innovator to exploit their added functionality. Whether the Indian banking sector is grabbing the opportunities thrown open by ATMs is a question that needs to be answered by bankers. |
