Senior citizens could soon find banking a lot more hassle-free. The Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) on Thursday announced its plans to launch a number of new biometric ATMs,which will enable elderly citizens to use the facility without having to commit their PINs to memory. Currently,BoM has 11 biometric ATMS,five of which are in the city. The bank,which has 345 ATMs across the country,has not firmed up exact plans as to how many biometric ATMs it will roll out in the current fiscal. Allen C A Pereira,chairman and managing director,BoM,talking on the sidelines of a press meeting to announce the banks annual results said,We are aware of numerous instances where our senior citizen customers have been inconvenienced because they could not recall their PINs at the time of withdrawing cash from the ATM. We will gauge the response from our 50,000-plus pensioner customers here before going ahead with our plans of launching more biometric-enabled ATMs. Not having to remember PINs will mean banking with us will be more convenient for pensioners and senior citizens,who are our target clientele with this move. MG Sanghvi,executive director,BoM,said,Most bank ATMs work based on PIN verification. In a biometric ATM,there will be no need to remember and enter a PIN code and transactions can be done using thumb-impressions. Also,biometrics will facilitate a unique identification of each customer and will prove useful for rural customers who are intimidated by or unfamiliar with technology. In the next six months,the bank will also launch several mobile ATMS in the city and its outskirts,in a bid to reach out to more customers. Its a very good idea. I use the ATM all the time. This will greatly facilitate smoother operation for senior citizens, said Mangat Malhotra,a senior citizen,who is not a customer of BoM right now. Col (Retd) V N Tambekar,70,expressed happiness over the proposed move. It is a good initiative. Senior citizens find it difficult to remember their PIN and biometric ATMs are a smart solution, he said.
