India Opens National ATM Switch

Euronet Worldwide, an e-payment technology company, has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India to operate a national shared ATM switch, with Industrial Development Bank of India as the settlement bank. The network will operate under the brand Cashnet.

As India's first nationwide shared ATM switch, Cashnet will support ATMs for the existing founding member banks: Citibank, Industrial Development Bank of India, Standard Chartered Bank and Unit Trust of India Bank.

Composed of the member banks' existing ATMs, Cashnet will provide access to more than 1,300 ATMs for the more than 6 million debit and credit cardholders across more than 100 cities in India.

Customers from the member banks can use any ATM in the network. These transactions will be supported by online connections between each bank and the Euronet processing center in Mumbai, thus establishing the first shared ATM network in India to offer end-to-end online transaction processing across the entire network.

The network will be implemented using Euronet's software, which has powered Euronet's European Operations Center for the past eight years, processing more than 7 million transactions a month. The Cashnet switch will process ATM transactions and provide daily settlement between member banks.

Cashnet enables customers to enjoy additional access through an expanded transaction set, allowing for easy access to their financial accounts.

The transaction set includes cash withdrawals, fast cash withdrawals, balance inquiries, mini-statements, PIN changes, checkbook requests and ATM recharges.