India Post to install 3000 ATMs,1.35 lakh mirco-ATMs by Sept 15, 2014

January 29, 2014

In a bid to start a commercial banking, India Post has drawn a plan to install approx 3,000 ATMs and 1.35 lakh micro-ATMs at the post offices across the country for savings account holders by September 2015. On this plan, India Post worked with software giant Infosys.

Via interoperability, India Post will join the National Financial Switch, which will benefit India Post account holders to transact at the banks’ ATMs and vice versa.
The micro ATMs will be handheld devices to be operated at the post office level while the ATM will be similar to the one operated by any commercial bank.
The ATMs can be used only by 26 crore savings account-holders who save with the postal department. Though, its rough idea that within six months of the launch, India Post will get the interoperability permission from the Reserve Bank of India(RBI).
The postal department has 1.55 lakh post offices and more than 90 % are in villages, offers the savings account to people across the country and pays an interest of 4 % per annum for such deposits. The account offers cheque facility at present.
Postal savings are worth around Rs 6.05 trillion, which is half the savings in the largest lender SBI and more than double that of the largest private sector lender ICICI Bank.

About India Post
Founded: April 1, 1774
Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi.
Director General: Smt. Padmini Gopinath
The Department of Posts comes under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
Highest post office in the world: Hikkim, Himachal Pradesh(4,700 m).
Primary Function: To collect, process, transmit and deliver the mails.
Offers Money Remittance Services: Money Order, Electronic Money Order, Instant Money Order, etc.
Offers Premium Products: Speed Post, Business Post, Greeting Post, etc.
Offers Financial services: National Savings Certificates, the Public Provident Fund, savings-bank accounts, monthly-income plans, senior-citizens’ savings plans, time-deposit accounts, etc.