A mom-and-pop store in India’s villages can purchase RapiPay’s Micro ATM (pictured above) for a mere Rs 3,050/- ($42).

Cash is still king among India’s millions of banking unserved, residing predominantly in the country’s vast rural areas. Fintech RapiPay, therefore, plans to deploy 500K of its micro-ATMs over the next two years at small businesses. These devices, which look like a calculator, enable consumers to conduct basic banking services including cash withdrawals. The company designates these small business franchisees, which operate the Micro ATMs,  as “Banking Business Correspondents.”

In colloquial terms, the company refers to them as RapiPay Saathi’s (translation: companion). (Express Computer)

RapiPay’s Micro ATMs

RapiPay is a fintech subsidiary of Capital India Finance Ltd. For its RapiCash solution, defines its beat for Micro ATMs as the banking-neglected population located in Tier 2, 3 towns, and rural India. The potential reach for the company’s Micro ATMs can be gauged from the fact that of the 222K ATMs in the country, only 19% ATMs have been deployed in rural areas where 62% of the Indian population resides.

India’s unbanked still conduct their lives in a predominantly cash mode. In the so-called last-mile rural areas, factors such as the absence of bank branches, digital ignorance, and internet availability accentuate this adherence to cash.

“RapiPay Micro ATMs are revolutionary in comparison to the conventional ATM machines and offer utmost ease to the consumers enabling them to withdraw cash and do other similar banking activities at any RapiPay Saathi store without having to travel kilometers in search of an ATM,” said Yogendra Kashyap, MD & CEO.

Kashyap revealed that the company had received an enthusiastic response to its Micro ATMs. He said it had already installed over 25K machines within a month of launch.

“Availability of Micro ATMs, AePS and other services such as money transfer, bill & tax payments, etc with a neighboring shopkeeper is a big savior for consumers looking for banking & payment services in their neighborhood” added Kashyap.

Regulatory status

RapiPay holds a PPI (Pre-Paid Instrument) license from the Reserve Bank of India.

The RapiPay Saathis across India connect up with the RapiPay Agent App to conduct the transactions. The company says the financial transactions happen in real-time, over its secure and encrypted network.

Related Story:  PayPal: “We will Hasten the Demise of Cash”

Image of MicroATM: Rapipay