Safe ePayments – Awareness Campaign

The word ‘Safe ePayments’ is now an official word.

The word i.e ‘Safe ePayments’ has been officially mentioned by India’s leading business newspaper, ‘The Economic Times’.

In the last couple of years, Indian Banks, either Public Sector or Private Sector or Foreign Banks have invested considerably in IT infrastructure to ramp up their ePayments offerings.

The main drivers towards Safe ePayments were Reserve Bank of India and National Payment Company of India.

UIDAI (AADHAR) and the Central/State Governments too are now major motivators to move to Safe ePayments.

The ePayments volumes are on the increase, but a huge untapped potential is there.

The main reason for a slow conversion from traditional payments to ePayments is the lack of a common awareness program aimed at the Indian public.

Individual players have been doing their bit to promote ePayments, but a focused continuous program will do wonders for a surge in volumes.

‘Safe ePayments’ should be considered as a Brand and there must be efforts to promote it as a Brand.

The question now arises is as to who should promote the Brand, i.e the Regulator (RBI/NPCI/Central and State Governments), Banks directly or via IBA or the intermediaries(MasterCard/Visa/Diners etc)

07/04/2012 – State Bank Branches will be open up to 5.00pm

In view of majority of Indian Bank Branches being closed on 05/04/2012(Mahavir Jayanthi) and 06/04/2012(Good Friday), State Bank Group has decided to keep open it's branches open for physical transactions up to 5.00pm on 07/04/2012 (Saturday)

2 major activities to be done only physically at a Bank Branch

1. Cash Deposit
2. Accessing Lockers.

Accessing Lockers is the only activity which can never be migrated to Online mode!!!

State Bank Group is raising the bar for customer service, and all other Indian Banks have to follow them.

Now, the question is whether RBI will increase the Session timings for RTGS and NEFT on 07/04/2012. Well, by today evening, there should be more clarity on the same.

Axis Bank-India deploys 200 cash deposit machines. Try it now and provide your feedback.

8 points about Axis Banks' move to deploy 200 Cash Deposit Machines.

1. Axis Bank, is India's third largest private Bank, with a physical presence of 1300+branches and 7600+ ATM's.
2. To reduce the manual processing of Cash, it has announced deployment of 200 cash deposit machines.
3. The CDMs' have been installed in various branches across 90 cities in the country.
4. The CDMs' provide to its customers a 24 x 7 convenience of cash deposit with instant credit of all successful transactions.
5. The CDMs' will separate the notes denomination-wise, count and displays it for the customer’s confirmation before crediting the account.
6. A receipt slip is issued after each deposit made confirming the transaction.
7. The target is to add another 350 more such machines in the next 6 months.
8. The deployment of CDMs' will mean that the manual cash deposit transactions at the branch will be diverted to the automated environment.

What is a Cash Deposit Machine ?

In simple terms, the Cash Deposit Machine (CDM) is a self-service terminal that lets bank customers to make cash deposits.

Naturally, all successful transactions are immediately credited and customers will be issued an advice slip confirming the transaction.

3 safety tips for transacting at CDMs'

a) Do not publicize that you are making a Cash Deposit.

b) Do deposit only during day-time.

c) Preserve the Receipt, take a xerox or scan and store it.

Physical Cheques to be withdrawn by 2020

It has been noticed that lots of paper is being used to print Physical Cheques, apart from the other risks in handling cheques.

Hence, the Home Ministry has decided to set up a High Powered Committee to recommend strategies to eliminate Physical Cheques.

Time Frame

1. 01/04/2012 - Announcement of Constitution of the High-powered Committee by Home Ministry.
2. 01/05/2012 – The Committee meets for the first time.
3. 15/06/2012 – Comments invited from public and other participants in the finance sector.
4. 16/06/2012 to 31/12/2012 – Committee members travel around the country, holding Open Houses, to know the views of the bank’s customers.
5. 01/04/2013 – The Committee members meet and deliberate on the feedback obtained from various sources.
6. 01/05/2013 – Sub-committees formed to formulate the exact strategy for withdrawal of the Physical Cheques.
7. 31/12/2013 – The Sub-Committees submit the working report.
8. 01/04/2014 – Draft Report released to the public, inviting their comments.
9. 30/09/2014 – Final report with a detailed rollout plan
10. Every 3 months till 01/04/2020 – Sub-Committees meet, to track the progress and to resolve any gridlocks on the way.

01/04/2020 – GoodBye to Cheques

Exception: If cheques have to be used, than the payment will be made at any of the respective bank branches via cash or electronic transfer to another bank account.

Here in this article, the Pros and Cons of withdrawal of Physical cheques, will be discussed.

Pros :

1. Environment friendly – Paper saved, Storage cost saved.
2. Frauds minimized – Frauds relating to cheques handling eliminated
3. Cheque Bounces – Cheque Bounces especially due to INSUFFICIENT FUNDS will be history.
4. Cash Circulation - It is observed that still large number of cash transactions take place, which require strict AML (Anti-Money Laundering) rules. Such cash transactions will be eliminated.
5. Post-dated cheques – PDC’s cheques now common, will be eliminated.

Cons :

1. Strong political will combined with the behavioral change in our countrymen required.
2. Senior Citizens: Strong alternate solutions tobe in place, to ensure Senior Citizens are not troubled. However, cash withdrawals via cheques will continue.
3. Infrastructural cost : Huge infrastructures cost to set up alternates.

Disclaimer: Subject to your belief i.e 01/04/2012

02/04/2012 – RTGS/NEFT are closed, but there are other alternates.

5 alternates for Safe ePayments on 02/04/2012

1. IMPS – Interbank Mobile Payment Systems. With 37 banks on the IMPS network, IMPS is the best alternate.

2. Credit Cards – Use carefully, keeping in view your billing cycle.

3. Debit Cards – Shop till the amount available in your account.

4. Visa Card-to-Card Transfer - Accessible via most Indian Banks ATM's or Netbanking

5. Master Card-to-Card Transfer - One more option for bank's customers.

So, what mode do you intend to access on 02/04/2012