IMGCAP(1)]
Diebold India plans to complete by June the installation of nearly 3,000 ATMs the vendor has sold to the State Bank of India, a Diebold executive tells CardLine Global. The bank has ordered 2,740 ATMs, of which 60% are cash dispensers and 40% are full-function ATMs, Nareesh Hosangady, managing director of Diebold India, tells ATM&Debit News, a CardLine Global sister publication. Some of the full-function ATMs have barcode readers, enabling accountholders to use the machines to pay bills. Consumers hold the invoice near the machine's barcode reader, which interprets the amount due. The ATM then deducts the payment from the consumer's account. All of the full-function ATMs and cash dispensers have much-lower electrical power requirements compared with conventional ATMs, Hosangady says. "Customers are looking for lower power ATMs to reduce their costs," he says. State Bank of India, which is based in Mumbai, operates the nation's largest ATM network, with 12,000 machines. In 2008, the bank announced it wanted to increase its ATM network by 4,000 machines, Hosangady says. Besides giving part of the contract to Diebold, State Bank of India awarded the balance of the agreement to U.S.-based NCR Corp. Before the recent order, Diebold managed 3,500 ATMs for the bank. Diebold India expects to receive a management-services contract under the new agreement, Hosangady says. Diebold India provides managed services to 10,000 ATMs owned by various banks throughout India, Hosangady says. Managed-services contracts, a strong source of incremental revenue, typically run for two to three years.
