The advent of smart technology has revolutionised the way the world functions and does payments. Smart technology is being used in all sectors such as fashion, utilities as well as banking. The best things about this technology are the convenience to shop and transact from the comfort of your home, at any time of the day and the touch of a button. It is only obvious that such a technology would get popular with time and reach a large population.

Domestic Money Transfer (DMT) is a service that is provided by us to transfer money from one account to another in any part of the country.

Gone are the days when people from rural areas and remote areas had to come to the cities for buying goods and for banking. Thanks to digital technology, these services are now available in even the remotest areas of the country. In rural areas, people are now using technology to expand their small grocery stores and other retail stores.

With this, interest in digital payments in rural areas has increased. Retail POS brings many benefits to small retailers. But first, let us understand about POS system.

Technology has played a major role over the years in the banking sector. This has been especially beneficial for rural and remote areas with limited access. Fastpay can provide banking services which is beneficial to all through AEPS and Micro ATM. Micro ATM provides convenience and helps to tackle issues of cash withdrawal.

The Aadhar-Enabled Payments System (AEPS) has emerged as one of the fastest-growing payments systems in India, having an annual growth rate of 150% since its launch in 2016. According to the most recent data by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), 33.5 million transactions worth Rs 9,000 crore happened over micro ATMs in May 2019. In the initial five months of 2019, almost 145 million transactions have occurred through micro ATMs as against an overall transaction volume of 200 million in the entire 2018.

If you are a shop owner or run a small business, you can become part of the growing fintech network. You can become a retailer or distributor with Fastpay. Becoming a Fastpay Retailer is very easy, as all you need is a laptop or a smartphone to provide the services to your customers. The banking services, not only increase your customer base but also provide extra earnings.

Digital payment is the present of rural India

India’s economic progress is largely dependent on villages and towns due to the agriculture sector. It is important not only to consider them but also empower them with digital payments and cashless banking. Rural areas in India with the convenience of mobile money can help bring better business and transparency.

Advantages of digital payment in rural areas of India

Financial freedom
Rural economy heavily relies on cash transactions. One of the biggest reasons for that is the absence of banks in their villages. They have either travel to the next town or nearest cities for bank transactions. Digital payments with the help of Fintech companies or mobile banking eliminates the need to go to a bank and banking can be done anytime anywhere.

Banking at door step
With the help of banking services provided by Fintech companies, it is possible to set up bank accounts without having to actually visit a bank branch which may be located in remote rural areas. It is also possible to withdraw cash, transfer money and pay utility bills. Digital payment has never been so easy.

Rural Business Boom
Being hassle free, it is easy to use and once the rural population begins to get comfortable with this cashless transactions and digital banking, more merchants or shop owners can become associates. Better reach and more convenience would automatically give a boost to all kinds of rural businesses. Once that happens, there would be a more secure flow of funds.

Better access to Economical Facilities
Many people in rural areas have to struggle to get their pension and wages paid or to avail benefits of schemes they are eligible for. With digital banking, it is easy to approach things and get paid sooner.

Inclusive Growth
It is not feasible for people in rural areas to make long trips to make investments or pay utility bills or withdraw money from ATMs to pay wages to their staff. However, having a mini or micro ATM in rural areas would be a boon and the entire sector could witness exponential growth. Whether it is to make online bill payments or to lend and borrow money, if it is all possible with digital banking.

Being a trusted solution that is known for its strict quality standards, the identity proof is aadhar card enabled or through fingerprint which make using this system extremely convenient.

Fintechs are Playing an Important Role in Digital Payment Space

Fintech firms such as Fastpay Payments in association with the Government are trying their level best to empower rural businesses digitally and financially post demonetization. Novel solutions that specially cater to the needs of the rural business community are being implemented. Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) and mATM at retail points to help users carry out transactions, thereby eliminating the requirement to visit the physical branches of a bank.

There is also the provision to make offline-to-online transactions, which is particularly useful for rural businesses that lack direct digital access.

Understanding Micro ATM and how it works in rural India

Ever since demonetization happened, Micro ATMs have been the buzz word. Micro ATM looks like a card swiping machine but is able to offer banking without the bank to the last mile. Banks can remotely connect to their core banking system through this machine. Micro ATMs work like handheld point of sale (PoS) terminals which can be specifically used to disburse cash in remote locations or rural areas of the country. This is a doorstep mobile banking arrangement cum-mobile ATM device.

The micro ATM machine comes with a fingerprint scanner attached to it and has the ability to scan Aadhaar details. This helps banks and payment solution companies to connect with the large unbanked sector effectively.

These machines are typically used by business correspondents (agents who represent banks in rural areas) of banks to connect customers who are far away from branches. The agent (a businessman or a shopkeeper) acts as the cash disperser for the ATM. He collects deposits and feeds in data and also pays out from his pocket and debits the account. There are no service charges for using Micro ATMs.

Micro ATMs are expected to be viable where ATMs are not. ATMs need at least 80-100 transactions a day to be viable as they cost several lakh and have monthly operating expenses such as account rental, telecom charges, AMC costs, electricity expenses and security guard. A micro ATM costs less than Rs 20,000. Since connectivity is through GSM, the agent can carry it and travel village to village at set times.

How does a Micro ATM work?
Bank will assign a correspondent who will sign up customers in remote areas after verifying their identity (fingerprint can be used as an authentication tool for rural people ). The fingerprint and personal details may also be linked to the Aadhaar Card, which will then serve as the ID proof required to withdraw money.

Advantages of Micro ATM

• According to bankers, the cost of deployment of a micro ATM is lesser than that of an ordinary ATM. ATMs need at least 80-100 transactions a day to be viable as they costs several lakhs. A micro ATM costs less than Rs 20,000. ( cite copy, and link)
• It is portable
• Micro ATM has connectivity through GSM, hence it can travel from village to village, said Das during a press interaction on Monday.
• Biometric enabled secured transactions
• Interoperable device and can work for any bank

Micro ATM can be used for the following banking utilities

• Account opening
• ATM card transaction
• eKYC
• Aadhaar enabled payments (AEPS)
• Cash withdrawal/deposit
• Funds transfer, mini statement, balance enquiry, etc.
• Aadhaar seeding
• Biometric capturing

Some of the non-banking utilities include:

• Internet and DTH recharge
• Prepaid and Postpaid SIM card recharge
• Ticket booking (IRCTC Railways/Airlines/Bus)
• Hotel booking & much more

Fastpay Payments’s Micro ATMs services are designed as a solution to narrow the banking gap especially for the rural Indians. We are empowering local retailers, shopkeepers and retired banking staff with these devices by enabling financial transactions.