Fino Payments Bank has introduced Cash Bazaar, a first-of-its-kind service to address the critical demand and supply gap of cash in rural areas. In line with Fino’s philosophy of providing simple and convenient banking, Cash Bazaar helps customers locate the nearest merchant banking point to complete deposit and withdrawal transactions.
Cash Bazaar is integrated with Fino’s mobile banking app, BPay, but one need not be a Fino customer to use the service. Any bank’s customer can download the app and make use of the cash exchange service.
Manish Boricha, Chief Products Officer, Fino Payments Bank, said, “Our objective is to help create value for customers and merchants through Cash Bazaar. With 80% of Fino’s merchant network of 125,000 points present in rural areas, Cash Bazaar has the potential to change the banking habits of smart phone-savvy customers. Further, the service helps increase the efficiency of cash supply in the local economy that reduces the risk of carrying or holding cash.”
‘Catching on’
‘Since launch earlier this month, the service has received an encouraging response. We expect Cash Bazaar to be used increasingly in areas with low availability of cash and ATMs’
Manish Boricha, Chief Products Officer, Fino Payments Bank
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How to use Cash Bazaar 1. Go to BPay App 2. If you are not a Fino customer, download BPay App from Google Playstore 3. Select Cash Bazaar option on the login page 4. Raise request for cash deposit or withdrawal 5. Get the nearest merchant point details within 5 km distance 6. Call and coordinate with merchant 7. Use navigation info to reach intended point 8. Complete transaction |
To safeguard the system from any risk, mobile OTP-based authentication system is deployed to provide customers access to merchant information. Additionally, there are other mechanisms in place that enhance customer experience and trust.
The merchant points are the neighbourhood kirana (grocery), or mobile repairing shops. As a Fino Micro ATM-enabled banking point, it is an opportunity for merchants to let their unused cash earn extra income. They have cash generated by their own businesses, as well as deposits made by customers. So, cash is always available at these points for customers, unlike conventional ATMs that run out of cash.
To be visible to customers on Cash Bazaar, merchants need to be logged into the Fino merchant portal. Merchants with heavy cash can service customer withdrawal requests, while those with less cash can take customer deposits. The added benefit for customers is that these merchant points are open till late in the night, allowing customers to transact at their convenience.
Combined with ease of access and de-risking cash handling, Cash Bazaar is a win-win platform for all — customers, merchants and the bank.
