It seems that Japanese financial and retail chain 7-Eleven is considering the possibility of wielding its ATM business arm in the white label ATM market in India. A report in the Business Standard said the information comes from three people who were familiar with the development.
The Reserve Bank of India announced last year that it would open the ATM segment for non-banking entities as a way to increase penetration of alternative payment channels in semi-urban and rural areas.
So far, RBI India has agreed in principle to authorize Tata Communications Payments Solutions, Sequoia Capital-backed Prizm Payments, Srei Infra and AGS Transact Technologies for installation projects. Still others are vying for RBI approval.
A senior executive with EKO India Financial Services, which is also angling to enter the white label business, confirmed that executives from 7-Eleven's Seven Bank had spoken to his firm among others. Delhi-based EKO provides payment, cash collection and disbursal services.
Cash management and network securities companies will have to ramp up their operations to keep pace with the accelerating rate of ATM installations in India, said N S G Rao, secretary general of the Cash Logistics Association. Rao told the Business Standard that to grow these companies will require an infusion of capital — possibly from private equity sources.
Read more about installation and deployment.
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