How to and Facts on Banking and Money in India

With a population of over 1 billion, India is an exciting environment for finance, with cutting edge technology bringing the Indian financial scene into the future. India has over 32-thousand ATMs as of December 31, 2007, but an increasing number of customers are finding that the need to visit a bank branch or ATM location is not what it used to be, thanks to stellar technological advances.

Banks are moving toward granting users to complete banking transactions using mobile phones and other handheld technologies. Banks, in the past, have used technology such as text messages to advertise promotions for customers, but electronic transactions will likely replace several types of cash transactions in India within the next couple years. The utilization of technology in banking reduces transaction costs and lessens the need for quick branch expansion. Currently, nearly 10% of all banking and money transfer transactions in India are completed online.

This idea of handheld bank technology is called Mobile Banking, and it is assumed that mobile banking will change the bank industry in India and soon all over the world. Already, 85-90% of mobile bankers do not use ATM or credit cards; they simply use their cell to complete transactions. The technology utilized to make this style of banking possible is the same technology that runs ATM machines, although it is much cheaper to maintain. India is really on the forefront of this rapidly growing area of finance.

An increasing number of Indians are also utilizing the web for bank purposes, although the majority of banking customers utilizing the World-Wide-Web limit their activites to checking statements and assuring whether or not transactions have been completed. The Internet also allows bank customers to interact with bank employees to ask questions and inquire about bank goods and services, although this is not tremendously used so far by Indian bank customers.

Generally, Indians have not carried a great deal of debt, with consumer debt making up just 4% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, compared with over 60% for countries such as South Korea and Taiwan. Banks are willing to join in the increasing debt loads of Indian consumers. Like China and South Asia as a whole, India is one of the largest increasing areas for credit card, debit card, and cash card services, and surveys predict that the credit card market in this area will change by 15-20% over the next few years. Indian houses currently save 28% of their disposable income.

The banking presence is expanding in India, as more global banks and financial companies rush to compete for the changing banking needs in the country. Demographically speaking, half of India’s 1.2 billion populace are below the age of 25, so throughout the next many years, a big generation of people will be entering their earning years and will have many banking needs. The banks which find a way to give the services Indian banking customers enjoy a influx of new customers and profit in the years to come.

Sending Money to India

In 2006, India was the largest recipient of funds being sent overseas, with over $23 billion being sent internationally to India alone.  There are many options available today for transferring money to India.  The money transfer business is growing at a rate of over 10% each year, and India is a country where a large portion of this money is being sent.

Like any country, the cost of sending money to India depends on the method you use and how quickly you need money to arrive.  Generally speaking, you will pay more to get the money there faster with most companies.  For example, the cost of sending $500 fast from the US to India can be as a little as $5 with www.atmcash.com, or as much as $14.99 with other companies.  Some companies have options that allow the person sending money to pay less if they’re willing to have the cash available in 3-4 days instead of the same day.

The internet has given rise to a number of good companies for sending money, each with their own fees, terms and conditions.  Some people have turned to Paypal, for instance, as way to send cash.  Although the money will be received almost instantly by the recipient, it’s not necessarily easy to turn that money into cash, as it can take up to 5 days for funds to be deposited into a bank account.  This is a great example of an “instant” money transfer that is not really instant.

One fast money transfer method that truly does make funds available to the recipient is the prepaid debit card.  This method takes a few days the first time you try it, as the debit card has to be delivered to the recipient.

Once the card is in the possession of the person receiving the funds and you have shared the PIN number with them, the money can be accessed instantly at any network ATM machine, of which there are thousands worldwide.  Once the person receiving funds has the ATM or debit card in their possession, funds can be loaded onto the card online and be available very quickly, all for a lower fee than most competing methods.  There is much more information on this service at www.atmcash.com.

Online money transfers are a great option for sending money to India because there are many competing for their share of this quickly growing business.  Consumers benefit from this competition as companies try to make their service more convenient, more secure, and more affordable than their competitors.

The amount of money being sent to India is sure to continue growing.  It’s a great idea to go online and get familiar with some of the newer methods of sending money to India fast.  You’ll likely find that you will save both time and money in going online for your money transfer needs.

Banking in India

With a population of over 1 billion, India is an exciting environment for banking, with cutting edge technology leading the financial scene in India into the future.  India has 32,342 ATMs as of December 31, 2007, but an increasing number of customers are finding that the need to visit a bank branch or ATM machine is not what it used to be, thanks to exciting technological advances.

Banks are moving toward allowing customers to complete banking transactions using mobile phones and other handheld technology.  Banks in the past had used technology such as text messages to advertise promotions for customers, but electronic transactions will probably replace many types of cash transactions in India within the next few years.  The use of technology in banking lowers transaction costs and reduces the need for rapid branch expansion.  Currently, 8% of banking transactions in India are completed online.

This idea of handheld banking technology is called Mobile Banking, and it is predicted that mobile banking will revolutionize the banking industry in India and eventually around the world.  Already, 85-90% of mobile bankers do not use debit or credit cards; they simply use their phone to complete transactions.  The technology used to make this style of banking possible is the same technology that runs ATM machines, although it’s much cheaper to maintain.  India is truly on the cutting edge in this rapidly growing area of finance

An increasing number of Indians are also using the Internet for banking purposes, although the majority of bank customers using the Internet limit their activity to checking statements and determining whether or not transactions have been completed.  The Internet also allows bank customers to interact with bank employees to ask questions and inquire about bank products and services, although this is not heavily utilized so far by Indian bank customers.

Traditionally, Indians have not carried a great deal of debt, with consumer debt making up only 4% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, compared with over 60% for countries such as South Korea and Taiwan.  Banks are eager to participate in the increasing debt loads of Indian consumers.  Like China and South Asia as a whole, India is one of the largest growing areas for credit card, debit card, and cash card services, and studies predict that the credit card market in this region will grow by 15-20% over the next three years.  Indian households currently save 28% of their disposable income.

The banking presence is growing in India, as more International banks and financial companies rush to compete for the growing banking needs in the country.  Demographically, half of India’s 1.2 billion people are under the age of 25, so over the next several years, a huge generation of people will be entering their earning years and will have diverse banking needs.  The banks that find a way to provide the services Indian banking customers enjoy a windfall of new customers and profit in the years to come.