Hitachi Payment Services MD says, the company is evaluating merger opportunities

Hitachi Payment Services Managing Director and cash business Chief Executive Officer, Sumil Vikamsey said that the company is evaluating opportunities for mergers and acquisitions.

  

To evaluate potential targets which includes small startups, the company has set up an in-house incubation hub.

 

“We are always open to exploring innovative solutions that synergises with our capabilities,” says Vikamsey.

 

The company announced that it would take over the cash management business of Writer Corporation, in late July. The transaction is yet to be closed. More recently, Hitachi Payment in association with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) announced the launch of an UPI-only ATM.  

 

The company will likely operationalise these white-label ATMs in early 2024. In essence, the ATM will enable customers to do card-less cash withdrawals through the Unified Payments Interface.

 

“We plan to start deploying the UPI ATM in our white-label ATM estate in locations where UPI is prevalent and the requirement for cash as a mode for payment still prevails. We will also offer this solution to customers of our partner banks,” Vikamsey said.

 

He did not disclose the target for deployment of ATMs but he is confident that the company will hit the market “at scale”.

 

The company is also working on an interoperable card-less cash deposit facility that will run on UPI rails. The product is currently at an ideation stage.

 

“As of today, you can withdraw your money from any ATM. However, barring a few banks, you cannot deposit your money at cash recycler machines,” he said, adding that a full-fledged deposit interoperability is required for the cash recycler infrastructure to reach its full potential.

 

At present, the interoperability of cash deposit has been adopted by 15 entities and of these, nine are cooperative banks, five are a mix of state-owned banks and private banks, and one is a white-label ATM operator.

 

“Along with interoperable card-less cash withdrawal, we can also look at interoperable card-less cash deposit. This is still in an ideation stage,” Vikamsey said. The company will work with ecosystem providers like the NPCI to launch this offering.