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RBI nod on WLAs will not affect bank's ATM plans

February 22, 2012

India's HDFC Bank does not intend to change its plans to roll out more ATMs even though competition for users may be set to increase, said an article today at mydigitalfc.com. Last week, the RBI agreed in principle to allow non-bank affiliated white label ATM networks to operate in the country.

"The lender will not cut its ATM roll-out target as a result of the RBI's draft guidelines allowing non-banking entities to set up ATMs, also called as white-label ATMs," said Rahul Bhagat, head of direct banking channels for HFDC Bank. Bhagat declined to give a specific rollout target number, but he did say that the country's second-largest lender currently had 7,000 ATMs in place.

Asked about the cost of setting up an ATM, Bhagat said up to 50 percent of transactions in its existing ATMs are done by non-HDFC Bank account holders, resulting in good fee income, which will take care of the installation cost.

Moreover, Bhagat pointed out that when a bank sets up an ATM, part of the goal is to deepen customer relationships and give the customer a feeling of service by the bank.

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