Banks firm up limit for withdrawals at micro ATMs

Banks have firmed up upper limit on withdrawals at micro ATMs at Rs 10,000 as part of rules governing small transactions, especially under financial inclusion. They will levy interchange fee of Rs 2 for withdrawal up to Rs 2,000 per transaction. The charge will rise to Rs 15 per withdrawal for amount between Rs 5,001 to Rs 10,000.

Banks will not levy interchange fee for non-financial transactions at Micro ATMs. The switching fees have been waived up to December 2015, subject to review. The rates and rules are applicable for cash withdrawals using Card and Pin at Micro ATMs.

Bankers said the cost of deployment at Micro-ATMs is less than that of the ATMs. National Payments Corporation of India and Indian Banks' Association (IBA) worked with banks to decide interchange and switching fees.

Micro-ATMs are similar to Point of Sale (PoS) terminals but are called so as handheld devices they are used by business correspondents to accept deposits and dispense cash.

There are over 1, 24,000 ATMs installed over a period of time. As their standards have evolved with 54,000 units enabled for Aadhar enabled payment systems where 8,000 are enabled for RuPay cards.

As a step to broad-base transaction infrastructure, there is need for upgrade all ATMs.

Bank executives said the task is to upgrade, replace and purchase new units so that those with RuPay Cards can also do transactions. The entire process is expected to be cost about Rs 200 crore. Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) could chip is some assistance as subsidy for this exercise, said public sector bank executive.

The existing operating norms and dispute management system applicable for ATM transaction on National Financial Switch will be applicable to Micro-ATM cash withdrawal transactions. For interface of Business Correspondents, banks may decide on ceiling amount of transactions at Micro ATMs in BC locations depending on their policies.

Bank could provide training to BCs for supporting card and pin-based transactions in interoperable environment. Bank could also sensitise BCs about the risk associated and mitigations.