PayNearby launches Micro ATM at nearby retailer shops

PayNearby, India’s leading hyperlocal FinTech network is on a mission of building an eco-system that will redefine access to financial services for the underbanked. As part of this mission, the company has added a critical extension to its bouquet of services with the launch of its own network of Micro ATMs. The new offering has been launched for their retail touchpoints across the country. The company has tied up with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Equitas Small Finance Bank for this initiative.
With the launch of Micro ATM business terminal, PayNearby has strengthened its product portfolio of money withdrawal services. Now along with Aadhaar enabled money withdrawals, PayNearby retailers can also offer cash withdrawals through debit cards. This has enabled a small kirana store to become a full-fledged customer touch point for ATM like services.

A customer can simply walk to his nearest PayNearby shop (say, a grocer or a mobile recharge shop) across 16,722 PIN codes in the country and withdraw cash by swiping his debit card and entering his PIN. If they don’t have a debit card, they can use their Aadhaar number and finger print to withdraw cash. On completion of the transaction, the customer receives a confirmation from their bank via SMS besides a receipt from the retailer. In addition to cash withdrawals, customers can also request balance enquiries at these retail touch points.

A handy low cost machine, that processes card transactions seamlessly, PayNearby’s Micro ATM is a cost effective and a smart cash management tool for small retail stores and traders who deal in large chunks of cash on a daily basis. With the new offering, retailers on PayNearby’s network can efficiently use the money available in their drawer.
The company has commenced a nation-wide launch by getting the service activated on its retail network comprising of more than ~750,000 retail touch points across the country. The company aims to add over 1 lakh POS enabled Micro ATMs in the first year of its launch.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Anand Kumar Bajaj, Founder & CEO PayNearby said, “Considering its USPs such as portability, affordability and low maintenance, Micro ATMs can very effectively drive financial inclusion while curbing down the infrastructure costs incurred especially in rural India where a full-fledged ATM becomes unviable.
Considering the depth of the PayNearby network, the launch of Micro ATMs will help us play a very critical role towards the twin objective of ‘digitising cash’ and ‘giving banking access to the underbanked’. This will also enable our retail partners to earn more income.

Besides rural India, our Micro ATMs are also ideal for urban areas where a majority of ATMs are not linked with Aadhaar or don’t have access to finger print. Furthermore, it will be useful in the country’s deep interiors and states like Assam and North East where Aadhaar number penetration / onboarding are still minimal resulting in lack of AEPS offerings.”

The Confederation of ATM industry (CATMi) has announced its plans to shut down nearly 50 per cent ATMs due to high maintenance cost of software and equipment upgrades. PayNearby empowers retailers at the first mile to offer digital financial/non-financial services to last mile, across its merchant points and aims to reach 50,00,000 retailers in near future. The company is currently the leader in Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS) with 33% market share.