INNOVATION IN RETAILING

abhishreshthaa

New member
The scope for innovation in financial services is unlimited. Although banks have introduced a variety of deposit and loan products, the basic features of all these products are almost one and the same. Among the delivery channels, ATMs have emerged as ubiquitous money centers. Almost all banks have established their ATMs. India had only 400 ATMs, which increased to 3,600. Out of this 881 ATMs have Swadhan connectivity.


It is projected that the number of ATMs will reach up to 35,000 by the end of. The question arises is, are they cash cows? The answer is certainly no. For most of the banks the overhead costs on these ATMs are far higher than the revenue generated by them. ATM operation costs are largely fixed in nature - the cost of the machine, its maintenance, replenishment of currency, and the satellite (network) connection. There should be a minimum number of transactions to cover these costs. Banks have to innovate wide range of services in addition to cash withdrawals.


ATMs should allow customers to buy postal and revenue stamps, payment of bills, event tickets, sports tickets, etc. Banks can offer ATM screens for slide show advertising also. However, the advantage of the ATM has always been speed and convenience, probably on introduction of these new services customer has to spend more time at a point. ATMs can guide the customer also. For example, if a customer's account balance has reached to bare minimum the ATM can give a helpful suggestion that "we notice your balance is low, can we help with a loan?" ATMs can be either within the premises of a branch or at a remote place.


On premises ATMs are highly immune to competition, but branches can reduce the staff, on installation of ATM. The scope for wider services through off-premises ATMs is very high; it provides great opportunity for fee revenue. The cost of maintenance of off-premises ATMs is higher in terms of replenishment, cash couriers, armed security etc. In the US, approximately 23 percent of ATMs are offering sale of postage stamps. It is the right time for banks to question themselves whether ATM is a service channel, sales channel, or branding opportunity.



The future of retail banking lies more in mobile banking. Mobile telephone market is penetrating, and mobile phones are ideal to utilize Internet banking services without customer accesses to PC. By a tacit acceptance India has around three million mobile phone users and this number is expected to reach to eight million by 2003.



Smart card revolution will further change the face of retail banking. Smart cards can store information; carry out local processing on the data stored and can perform complex calculations. At present, India has around 3.4 million smart card users and it is estimated that by the end of 2004 it will reach 14.7 million.
 
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