NFS ATM Operational Excellence Awards 2012

       

As the year 2012 came to a close, NPCI announced the 2012 NFS ATM Operational Excellence Awards.

In the coming years, this Award will be an annual feature. Awards are a performance booster to the teams in any organization.

The NFS ATM Operational Excellence Awards are no exception. These Awards recognize their NFS Member banks performance on the NFS ATM Network.

These awards are decided on the basis of assessment of specific operational criteria. The winners are selected by an eminent and independent Panel of Jury.

To broad-base the awards arena, the Banks are grouped into any one category of

1. Public Sector Banks

2. MNC and Private Sector Banks

3. Scheduled Co-operative Banks

And, the Award goes to :

Sr. No	Bank Name	Category	Position
01	Union Bank of India	Public Sector Banks	Winner
02	Indian Bank	Public Sector Banks	Runner-up
03	ICICI Bank	MNC and Private Sector Banks	Winner
04	HDFC Bank	MNC and Private Sector Banks	Runner-up
05	Cosmos Bank	Scheduled Co-operative Banks	Winner
06	Saraswat Co-Operative Bank	Scheduled Co-operative Banks	Runner-up

The jury also took cognizance of excellent performance of member banks based on certain specific parameters. A Special Jury Award was given to recognize the performance of select banks based on their performances in specific ATM operational area.

The following banks were the Winners of the Special Jury Award:

Sr.       Bank Name

1           State Bank of India

2          Axis Bank

3          Andhra Bank

4          IDBI Bank

5          Allahabad Bank

6          Citibank N.A

7          Karnataka Bank

8          IndusInd Bank

9          Punjab & Maharashtra Co-Operative Bank

            

Discover Cards and Diner Club International Cards part of India's RuPay Network.

Today, i.e March 07, 2012 a new chapter in the Indian Payments has begun.

A strategic alliance between Discover Financial Services (DFS) and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has been announced.

The top 11 points about this strategic alliance.

1. At present Diners Club International (DCI) cards are accepted at CitiBank ATM's.

2. Discover cards and Diners Club International (DCI) cards will be accepted at NPCI ATMs and point-of-sale terminals for purchases in India.

3. RuPay (the national card payment network in India) cardholders will be able to utilize the Discover, Diners Club International and PULSE networks for international purchases and cash access outside of India.

4. The companies are also working to implement D-PAS, Discover’s EMV technology, to offer chip-based cards to RuPay cardmembers.

5. The arrangement will be implemented in 3 phases. Phase 1) DFS and DCI cards will be accepted at RuPay ATMs in India. Phase 02 ) DFS and DCI cards will be accepted at RuPay POS locations. Phase 03) Acceptance of RuPay Global Cards on Discover’s global payment network outside of India.

6. The final aim of the network-to-network alliance between DFS and NPCI is the issuance of RuPay Global cards, once the domestic RuPay cards being launched later this month stabilize.

7. Discover, like American Express Co. (AXP), typically issues its own credit cards and operates a payments network that processes transactions.

8. Visa and MasterCard, only process transactions. The higher transaction volume helps boost their revenue.

9. Discover has a smaller acceptance footprint internationally than does American Express, Visa and MasterCard, though it has been working to change that.

10. At present there are 120 million+ DFS and Diners Club cards worldwide and these card holders can enjoy the wide reach of RuPay network in India, of over 90,000 ATM's.

11. In the near future, DFS and DCI cards would also be accepted at over six lakh POS terminals that are linked to the NFS.

National Financial Switch(NFS) gets a new member - The A P Mahesh Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd., Hyderabad.

The A P Mahesh Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd., popularly known as 'Mahesh Bank', has joined NPCI’s National Financial Switch (NFS) network on 30 th December 2011.

The bank has a network of 36 branches, 28 in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and one each at Khammam, Vijayawada, Guntur, Rajahmundry, Visakhapatnam, Warangal in Andhra Pradesh., Jaipur in Rajasthan and Mumbai in Maharashtra.

Mahesh Bank's customers can now access their bank accounts through 86,000+ ATMs of 63 other banks which are already in the NFS network.

Mahesh Bank commenced operations in 1977, and its customers base is basically traders. Towards this end, it has also opened branches in Jaipur and Mumbai, both major trading centres.

Mahesh Bank started its life as Primary Co-operative Society on 30th June, 1977.

In 1996, the Bank was accorded SCHEDULED STATUS by Reserve Bank of India from 26th October, 1996 - the first Co-operative Bank to be accorded this status in the entire South India.

In 2001, the Bank got itself registered as a Multi-State Co-operative Bank under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act, 1984 with effect from 30.05.2001 - again the first Co-operative Bank in South India.

As Mahesh Bank is on an expansion spree, with RBI permitting the bank to extend its area of operation to the entire States of Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat, the NFS route will enable it to attract more customers into its fold.