The State Bank of India (SBI), India's largest bank, has signed an agreement with U.S.-based automated teller machine (ATM) provider Diebold, Incorporated (NYSE:DBD) for yet another ATM expansion project for State Bank Group (SBG). The group's strategy is to expand its reach and leverage its brand in the region through branch and retail deployments.
As part of the contract, Diebold will deploy approximately 1,000 cash dispensers (CDs), more than 600 full-function lobby ATMs and approximately 60 cash recyclers. After this expansion is complete, SBG's total ATM network will grow to more than 28,000 terminals. This is part of SBG's plan to support its strategic self-service expansion plan and serve its widespread customer base across India with a significant number of deployments planned in metro, urban, semi-urban, rural and remote areas including Northeast India.
"As the self-service market evolves, automated self-service deposit functions continue to gain popularity," said Naresh Hosangady, vice president and managing director, South Asia, Diebold. "SBG has decided to adopt deposit automation to enhance the self-service technology on ATMs, and we look forward to delivering our solution and further developing our relationship with the SBG."
Diebold is providing the SBG with its full-function models D450 ATM and D422 CD specially designed for India, powered by a highly-efficient Intel Atom Dual Core embedded series processor to optimize power consumption and total cost of ownership.
Power consumption on these ATMs will be approximately 40 percent less than conventional processors. Also featured on these ATMs and CDs are:
* Touch screen along with function keys for higher availability of the machines;
* Voice guidance support and Braille enablement to support the visually challenged;
* Card reader with enhanced security features; and,
* An advanced dispenser with a special feature that helps in reducing jams and errors enabling better uptime and availability of terminals to end users.
Deposit automation functionality for the SBG will be enabled by Diebold's Opteva® 328 bulk cash recycling ATM, which is a high-capacity cash deposit and recycling terminal with a compact footprint. Unlike envelope deposits, this technology allows for validation of currency during the deposit, immediate creiate credit to the consumer's bank account. The bulk cash recycling ATM is able to emulate a teller transaction while validating each note, helping to reduce the risk of fraud. It also doubles up for routine cash withdrawal transactions.
With more than 17,000 branches, SBG offers the largest banking network to Indian customers. The ongoing ATM network expansion plan will strengthen SBG's mission of providing banking services and solutions across the length and breadth of the country.