With the biometric functions on the ATMs, whereby customers are identified via their fingerprints, the scheme aims to reach out to communities with a large proportion of unbanked semi-literate and illiterate customers, according to the Business Standard. However, a PIN facility will also be available and customers will be guided by a voice in a local language to help them use the machine.
Cited in The Hindu Business Line, K Ramakrishnan, chairman and managing director of Andhra Bank, said: Andhra Bank is the first bank in the country to launch mobile biometric ATMs. We will soon expand this to other places.
During the fiscal year, the bank plans to roll out the service to Kakinada, Visakhapatnam and Tirupati, and has a vision to launch 20 mobile biometric ATMs across the country by 2010, according to media reports.
