IDFC Bank facilitates cashless transactions at local mandi

Visitors were given tokens of various values against electronic payments made, which they could use to buy vegetables

IDFC Bank today facilitated cashless transactions in a retail vegetable market in the city, using the bank's interoperable Aadhaar-based microATM.

Visitors at Kukatpally retail market were given tokens against electronic payments made, using the bank's microATM and its Aadhaar-based biometric authentication. The microATM functions like a bank-in-a-box and can be used by customers of all banks. The tokens came in various small denominations, which were used by visitors to make purchases at the mandi.

At the end of the day, traders and sellers surrendered the tokens collected at the microATM counter. An amount equivalent to the tokens was deposited by the bank into the vendor's bank account, using Aadhaar authentication. The initiative combines the benefits of cashless transaction and the ease of biometric authentication, the bank said.

The initiative prevents distress sales by vendors due to non-availability of cash, while providing citizens the convenience of making cashless purchases.

IDFC Bank in a statement said customers of several banks were using its Aadhaar-enabled, interoperable microATMs, to withdraw and deposit cash and conduct banking transactions at close to one thousand rural and unbanked locations in the country.

This microATM consists of a tab, biometric scanner and a thermal printer. The bank claims that is the first-of-its-kind device as it combines different functions and features and uses multiple identifiers besides Aadhaar number.