Soon, deposit cash in your a/c from any bank's machine

RBI deputy governor says the central bank is working on making interoperable cash deposit machines a reality

The Reserve Bank is looking at connecting all cash deposit machines to the National Financial Switch (NFS) which will make them interoperable and allow customers to deposit cash into their accounts from any bank's machine.

"ATMs are already part of the NFS and now there is a proposal from National Payments Corporation (NPCI) to link all cash depositing machines to the NFS. This will allow any other bank customers to put in money from any machine," RBI Deputy Governor H R Khan told reporters.

Khan, who inaugurated Dena Bank's self-service e-Smart facility here, also said that the idea is to encourage alternate banking channels for day-to-day transactions.

When asked about the ATM interchange fee about which bankers have an issue, he said it is being discussed at the banks' level and the RBI has allowed them to take a decision on it.

"But one thing you must remember that any technology or initiative has to be profitable, particularly in the initial phase. If you are not able to recover the cost then they will not have incentive to expand all these alternate channels. So, you have to strike a balance between profit and convenience," Khan said.

He further said that RBI has also increased its focus on cyber security in the wake of increasing instances of phishing.

"We are concerned about cyber security and are focusing on it. Banks have been alerted and the IBA is also taking initiative on cyber security front," he added.

Recently, the central bank had issued a public advisory against an app (application) which is doing rounds on messaging app 'WhatsApp' purportedly to facilitate checking of bank balance.

"The Reserve Bank wishes to clarify that it has not developed any such application. Members of public are, therefore, advised to use the application, if at all, at their own risk," RBI had said.

On issuing payment bank licences, Khan said the applications are being scrutinised.

Dena Bank today opened its 16th e-smart facility which gives customers access to anytime banking. The bank plans to increase e-smart facility to 200 by the end of the fiscal, its CMD Ashwani Kumar said.

When asked about the threat that RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has received via an e-mail bearing the name of terror outfit ISIS, Khan refused to comment.