Axis Bank to buy high-tech ATMs

NCR Corporation, a technology company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has entered into an agreement with Axis Bank to provide 400 new automated teller machines equipped with  a surveillance device that captures the image of the ATM user along with transaction details to prevent fraud.

According to a release issued by NCR Corp today, Axis Bank has bought NCR PersonasTM 77 Solo ATMs, which will allow the bank to introduce new services such as bill payments, check deposits, ticket bookings and mobile top-ups through software and upgradeable hardware platforms.

The NCR ATM Surveillance solution captures transactional information along with an image that is triggered either by motion sensing or by the swipe of the card in the ATM. The solution is based within the ATM itself, removing the dependency on additional power supply, network connections and the need to make a secure enclosure for housing the equipment.

The images are stored in highly compressed format which can be viewed on the ATM monitor, allowing the bank to take action when required at the ATM site without undue loss of time.

Eastern arm to curb loans
The eastern zone of Axis Bank, comprising West Bengal, entire North-East, Bihar, Jharkhand and parts of Chhattisgarh, plans to curtail its personal loan portfolio following an increase in delinquencies. The bank now plans to extend personal loans only to its existing customers, S K Mitra, president, eastern zonal office, said in Kolkata yesterday.

The bank plans to restructure its existing personal loan book on a case-to-case basis in order to curb the rise of non-performing assets. The personal loan portfolio of the bank in the region was at Rs184 crore and the NPAs were 'significantly high', Mitra told a newspaper. 

The retail portfolio, at Rs1,250 crore, accounts for almost 25 per cent of the bank's total advances in the region at Rs5,000 crore. The east, according to Mitra, was a retail intensive region and the bank would leverage the strength of the zone.