Soon, you can withdraw cash from ATM even without bank a/c

“Essentially, the sender can have the money withdrawn from his account through an ATM transaction. The intermediary processes the payment, and sends a code to the recipient on his mobile that allows him to withdraw the money from any nearby bank’s ATM,” Rajan said.

The system will take care of necessary safeguards of customer identification, transaction validation, velocity checks, etc. “We need more such innovative products, some of which mobile companies are providing,” Rajan said at the Nasscom India Leadership Forum here on Wednesday.

“Cashing out is important for remittances, because we have a large recipient population in the country, most of whom do not have access to formal banking services,” the RBI Governor said.

With over 900 million mobile phones, the RBI plans to tap the potential for mobile banking as a delivery channel for financial services in a big way. “We have a great opportunity for banks and telecom service providers to come together to deliver mobile banking services of all kinds in a seamless and secure manner to their customers. In the next few months, we will accelerate the dialogue between key players.”

Rajan also proposed the idea of using the social media by the regulator to identify fraud.

“Technology can also offer answers to check fraud. Can we enlist social media in enabling the public to identify fraud and help regulation? How can we do this in a responsible way? I am sure we will find the answers,” Rajan said.

“It’s early days, there are no plans but this is something we have to consider,” he said, and added that the idea was mooted in the Nasscom gathering because he believes the IT industry can help come up with some solutions on this front.

Rajan said the RBI has been discussing with market participants about the possibility of setting up a trade-receivables exchange. “MSMEs get squeezed all the time by their large buyers, who pay after long delays. All would be better off if the MSME could sell its claim on the large buyer in the market.”