ATM transactions cross 10-crore a month mark

ATMs in India appear to be humming with activity, what with the cumulative monthly transaction volumes recorded by the National Payments Corporation of India's (NPCI), National Financial Switch (NFS), to which 61,702 ATMs are linked, crossing the 10-crore mark for the first time in August 2010. The Switch recorded 7.32 crore ATM transactions in July 2010. Between Jan,2010 when 53,906 ATMs of 37 Banks were connected to the NFS, and August 2010, when 61,702 ATMs of 44 Banks were linked to the Switch, monthly transaction volumes on the NFS shot up by 79% to 10.18 crore (5.68 crore in Jan,2010). The spurt in transaction volumes is on 2 counts. For one, bilateral transaction volumes between banks have migrated to the multilateral NFS platform. Two, due to the festival season, said Mr.K.S.Nerurkar, Head-NFS and Business Development,NPCI. NPCI promoted by State Bank of India,Punjab National Bank,Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Citi Bank and HSBC, was established in December, 2008. It is the umbrella organisation for all retail payment systems in the country owned and operated by banks.(BL 15092010)