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India's banks discussing use of local languages on ATM receipts

English and Hindi - both of them official languages - are currently used, however local language users, especially in rural villages, often do not speak either.

August 21, 2014

Pune, India-based tech firm LinguaNext is in talks with banks in India about deploying the firm's local language software at ATMs across the country in order to provide transaction receipts in local languages.

The company is already working with the State Bank of India on language management for its ATMs, according to a Press Trust of India report.

According to LinguaNext CEO Jagdish Sahasrabudhe, discussions with banks are in various stages, from proof of concept to commercialization. He expects a number of the latter to materialize this year.

Indian ATMs currently default to English, an official language of India, although Hindi, also an official language, can be selected as an option. However, the constitution of India recognizes a total of 22 languages, and the 2001 national census identified 122 individual languages with 10,000 speakers or more.