World’s first bitcoin ATM opens in Canada

The world’s first publicly accessible ATM machine which can exchange digital currency — bitcoins — for any official currency has been launched in Canada by a group of young entrepreneurs. The ATM machine, operated by Vancouver-based Bitcoiniacs and Nevada-based Robocoin, converts bitcoins to Canadian dollars and vice versa. It opened for business in a Vancouver coffee shop, yesterday.  The automated teller machine has already attracted its first customers, along with dozens of people who wanted to see how it worked, shortly after it went live. The coffee house is one of at least 20 businesses here that currently accept bitcoins, CBC News reported. 

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TCPSL plans to rollout value-added products

Tata Communications Payment Solutions Ltd (TCPSL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Communications LtdBSE 10.26 %, will rollout value-added services from early 2014 with white label ATMs. Last year, Reserve Bank of India had allowed corporates to set up white label ATMs to increase the penetration of ATMs in several areas of the country. TCPSL, among others, had bagged a licence for the same.  "By December, we expect the number of indicash branded white label ATMs to touch1500 and then we hope to begin rolling out value-added services from these ATMs or its sites," TCPSL CEO Sanjeev Patel said here today during the official launch of indicash ATMs in West Bengal. 

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RBI asks banks to charge for SMS alerts on actual usage basis

The RBI today asked banks to charge customers for transaction SMS alerts on the basis of usage, instead of imposing a fixed fee, to ensure equity and be reasonable.  "Banks are advised to leverage the technology available with them and the telecom service providers to ensure that such (SMS) charges are levied on all customers on actual usage basis," theReserve Bank of India said in its Second Quarter Review of Monetary Policy 2013-14. It said fees based on actual usage are necessary to ensure reasonableness and equity in charges levied by banks. 

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Banks jittery as telecom regulator gets tough on unregistered telemarketers

The telecom regulator is believed to have asked telecom service providers to discontinue their services to banks in cases where it has received complaints against unregistered telemarketers selling the banks’ products.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is understood to have notified all service providers to disconnect the telecom lines of about half a dozen entities, mainly banks, as complaints pertaining to non-compliant telemarketing calls were being received from customers. According to TRAI guidelines, financial institutions (banks, insurers and non-banking finance companies), builders and other entities could face the prospect of disconnection of all their telecom resources if they are found to be engaged in telemarketing through unregistered telemarketers.

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Now pay your utility bills, school fees, remittances and other bills using bank accounts

Reserve Bank today constituted an advisory group to implement a national bill payment system that will enable households to pay utility bills, school fees, remittances and other bills using their bank accounts. "The RBI has announced the constitution of a GIRO Advisory Group (GAG) to implement a national GIRO-based Indian Bill Payment System such that households will be able to use bank accounts to pay school fees, utilities, medical bills and make remittances electronically," RBI said in a notification. 

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'New RTGS system to improve financial market efficiency'

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan today said the new real time gross settlement (RTGS) system for fund transfers will improve the efficiency of the country's financial markets. "With its advanced liquidity and queue management features, the new RTGS system is expected to significantly improve the efficiency of financial markets," Rajan said while inaugurating the ISO 20022-compliant system. The RTGS system is used to settle interbank fund transfers by banks and their customers and is critical in facilitating orderly settlement of payment obligations. With its implementation, new regulations will replace the operating guidelines and regulations of 2004. 

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Banks yet to cut debit card fee at fuel pumps

A year after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a cut in charges ondebit card transactions, banks continue to impose a fee of 2.5% for payments at petrol pumps, thereby making an undue gain at the cost of the consumer. Earlier this month, large banks thwarted an attempt by the RBI-promoted National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) from capping charges on debit cards that are part of NPCI's Rupay network. Last year, RBI asked banks to cap the charges on debit card transactions at 0.75% for transaction values up to Rs 2,000 and 1% for larger transactions. But in debit card transactions at petrol pumps, banks continue to impose a 2.5% surcharge, which are mostly passed on to the consumer.

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25 mn small borrowers' data now a click away

Survarna Saha, a domestic help, is hardly known beyond her neighbourhood in one of the nondescript localities of Kolkata. Till recently, her sole documented identity was locked in a carefully preserved elector’s photo identity card. Today, Saha's details are a click away. No, it’s not Aaadhar, the much-trumpeted Unique Identity Card scheme that has exposed her identity beyond her immediate neighbourhood, but a loan from a micro finance institution (MFI).

With the credit bureau for microfinance institutions now fully functional, details of millions of such small borrowers across India are now being documented. This documentation may become one of the largest databases in the years to come.

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PSU banks need to set up 137 ATMs a day to meet FinMin target

 Public sector banks will have to race against time to install 137 ATMs every day to meet the Finance Ministry's target of putting up cash dispensing machines at all their branches by March end. According to the ministry, all the public sector banks are running behind schedule. The banks, which are required to install onsite ATMs at 34,668 branches by March 31, had set up 5,726 at the end of August.  In the remaining seven months of the financial year, the 26 public sector banks will together have to set up 28,942 ATMs, or an average of 137 every day. 

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RBI to launch new RTGS system from Oct 19

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will introduce revamped Real-Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) from October 19, 2013 to facilitate on-line real time settlement of payments. The revised platform will be used for settlement of transactions amongst members. The RTGS System will process transactions like Inter-institutional \ inter-bank transaction that is funds transfer purely between two members / participants, RBI said a statement. 

It would also deal with Customer transaction – funds transfer / receipt on behalf of the customer of a RTGS participant member. Government transaction – Funds transfer/receipt on behalf of Government Accounts by a participating member.

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FinMin asks public sector banks to ramp up rural ATMs

The Finance Ministry on Wednesday asked state-run banks to expedite installing automated teller machines (ATMs) in rural areas, which is falling short of the budget target. Against the target to install 34,668 by the end of March 2014, thepublic sector banks have put up only 5,726 ATMs by end of August, Snehalata Srivastava, the additional secretary in the Department of Financial Services, said here. "The number is not so satisfying...I request all the banks to provide this facility in the rural areas and the areas which are needing this kind of a facility," she said. In his Budget speech, Finance Minister P Chidambaram had announced that all the branches of the 26 public sector banks will have an ATM by end of March 2014 and accordingly over 34,000 branches were identified, she said.

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Technical committee to look at ways to boost mobile banking

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday constituted atechnical committee to examine the feasibility of encrypted SMS-based fund transfers, using an application that can run on any handset. The committee will study challenges faced by banks in mobile banking. It will also peruse the problems faced while introducing the unstructured supplementary service data channel and suggest solutions.  The committee will also consider the advantages/ challenges of having a single application across all handsets in an SMS-encrypted environment. The committee will also look at any other solution that could expand the reach of mobile banking and, accordingly, draw up a roadmap to implement the solutions.

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ATMs may run dry on shortage of guards this festival season

There may be cash crunch at ATMs this festival season on account of shortage of armed staff in private security agencies that provide logistics services to banks. The number of armed security guards in cash handling agencies have come down to one-third of what it was 6 months ago hitting the logistics operations, as per an industry estimate. Besides, many of them are expected to go on leave during the festivals - Navratri, Dussehra, Diwali and so on - adding to the woes of cash logistics firms. A number of ATMs are now being loaded with cash every fifth day, instead of every two days earlier, say industry officials. "There could be cash crunh in ATMs, due to shortage of armed guards at various companies. The increase in loading time to once every 5 days, is an indicator to that." said an official at a logistics company.

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eKYC: Aadhaar, fingerprint scan enough to open bank account

A few weeks after RBI governorRaghuram Rajan stressed on building credit histories of individuals based on theAadhaar number, one bank has introduced unique identity-based eKYC for opening loan and savings accounts.  

Axis BankBSE 0.05 %, which is using payment company Visa's network to access Aadhaar database, will introduce the eKYC facility in around 25 branches next week. The branches will open loan and deposit accounts based on the Aadhaar number and fingerprints instead of proof of address and proof of identity. RBI had notified eKYC as an 'officially valid document' under anti-money laundering laws on September 2. 

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Biometric authentication cost should not be passed to customer

Emphasising that there is need for a stronger biometric authenticationmechanism, Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar said cost for addition of infrastructure for this should not be passed on to bank customers. 

"While there is a need for a much stronger authentication mechanism and customer security-- such a proposal, without adequate capital for such massive infrastructure requirement, will result in a high cost burden for the entire banking system, which will ultimately have to be borne by the hundreds of million of account holders in the country," he said. 

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TRAI warns seven banks for sending pesky communications

Telecom watchdog Trai today said seven banks, including SBI, ICICI andHDFC BankBSE -2.55 %, were involved in pesky communications and warned that their telecom resources could be disconnected if they fail to submit a report on the nature of non-compliance and action taken.  The errant banks which also include PNBBSE -6.24 %, Citi, Axis and Kotak Mahindra are found to be marketing their products and services using unregistered telemarketers,Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said in a statement. 

Issuing stringent rules last month, TRAI had said phone connections of banks, insurance firms and realty players would be disconnected if they or entities on their behalf flouted the rules.  The new rules issued by the authority include a fine of Rs 5,000 per complaint on a telecom firm if found that the UCC (Unsolicited Commercial Communication) was made by unregistered telemarketers using its network. 

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Hackers come up with new modus operandi for internet banking frauds

Delhi police have stumbled upon a new modus operandi of e-banking fraudsters in which they first hack the internet banking account of the target and then get mobile number blocked to prevent the bank customer from receiving SMS alerts about illegal transactions made by them. In a recent case, two Nigerians were arrested by the staff of South Delhi police for allegedly swindling Rs 70 lakh from the bank account of an NRI based in Japan. Police seized three laptops from them containing banking data of around 1.5 crore people.

During interrogation, the duo told police about the new modus operandi in which hackers first hack data of bank customers from its website which contains the internet banking Id, passwords, other basic details and the mobile number on which SMS alerts are sent in case of a transaction from the account. “Armed with this information, fraudsters reach retail outlet of the mobile service provider and get the number blocked on the pretext that the SIM along with the mobile handset has been stolen or was lost. “As they already know the name and address of the owner of the mobile number through hacking, they even get a duplicate SIM issued of the same number,” said a senior police official.

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Only 3.6% households go in for cashless dealings: Report

Just 3.6 per cent households in the country undertake cashless transactions, although the government and the Reserve Bank have been taking steps to promote e-payment channels, says a report.  It cited poor acceptance of cards by sellers and lack of awareness about cashless systems/options as the two main reasons for such low penetration. 

"Penetration of cashless transaction stands at measly 0.43 per cent. It has been seen that only about 3.6 per cent of the households in India make cashless transactions," said a report by India Development Fund and Internet and Mobile Association of India that was sponsored by Visa and ItzCash. 

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Soon, ATMs will be more than mere cash dispensers

Ever thought of booking an air ticket using the ATM or paying your insurance premium through the neighbourhood cash dispenser? Or how about using the ATM to advertise your new business? All this and much more will be possible with ATMs being rolled out by non-banking companies, called the white-label ATMs.

The operators of these ATMs, or Automated Teller Machines, will have tie-ups with multiple banks and, apart from regular features, will also offer value-added services such as remittances, air, train and bus ticketing, and third party advertisements. This means that these players, which include Tata Communications Payment Services (TCPSL), Muthoot Finance and SREI, will act as financial services kiosks and make money from services beyond mere cash withdrawal. And that’s the way RBI has envisioned them — one-stop shops for major financial transactions.

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IOB's core banking system caught in technical glitch

The Core Banking System (CBS) of Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) was affected on Monday due to “complex technological malfunction,” restraining the banking services to its customers. While the transactions were carried out to the extend using the Saturday balance, IOB Chairman and Managing Director M Narendra said that a technical glitch following the Annual Maintenance of the system and the works to take more back up on Sunday, said Narendra. This has affected the core banking services and the ATM services of the Bank to an extend.

“There was some problem related to the annual maintenance and taking the back up, which was carried out on Sunday. It is yet to get complete recovery. They are trying to get it done by tomorrow,” Narendra. The Bank has 3,000 branches and a little over 2000 ATMs.

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