ATMs may open a/c in post offices
In a move that is sure to bring smiles to millions of postal savings account holders, the government is proposing to set up ATMs in all major post offices in the country in a phased manner.
This means consumers will no longer have to depend on the manual process of withdrawal during office hours, but can carry out transactions through use of debit cards on a 24×7 basis. The ATM facility will also come as a big relief for customers who receive money from loved ones abroad through Western Union Money transfer.
“The setting up of ATMs in post offices is a welcome step. We have over 140 million postal savings account holders and their total savings amount is just under Rs 4 lakh crore,” minister of state of communications and IT, Shakeel Ahmed, told ET.
Mr Ahmed said that the postal department was keen on entering the banking sector. According to government sources, having an ATM network in place would be the first step towards the Department of Post’s (DoP’s) ambitions of launching full-fledged banking services.
Government officials, however, refused to specify a time-frame for the roll-out of ATMs at post offices, and said that the project was in the conception stage and the details are being worked out.
“It is a major priority area for the Department, and the project will start with networking and computerisation of Post offices. The process has already begun through establishment of a national data centre. Once the post offices are linked, an account holder in Delhi will be able to withdraw money when he travels to Chennai,” sources said.
Postal Department’s services currently span five areas such as mail (letters and parcels), express (SpeedPost), financial services, postal life insurance and philately. The Department has identified Speedpost and financial services as its engines of growth.
The DoP is currently working on a plan to hive off its financial department arm into a stand-alone bank. This is because, the DoP currently passes off its entire collections to the finance ministry in return for a fixed commission, but a stand-alone banking arm will enable the it to make independent investment decisions.
