Hyderabad-based company, Goldsikka Limited, on December 3 opened a real-time gold ATM in Hyderabad's Begumpet, allowing customers to buy gold without going to any jewellery stores.
The 24x7 available ATM has turned quite a few heads since its installation in collaboration with OpenCube Technologies Pvt Ltd, a Hyderabad-based software company providing solutions for diverse financial and banking requirements.
According to a report on The Hindu Business Line, the gold ATM claims to be the country's first real-time yellow metal dispensing machine.
The CEO of Goldsikka, Sy Taruj, told Business Line that customers can use either a credit or debit card to buy gold coins through the ATM.
“The coins are dispensed in tamper proof packs certified with 999 purity and provide full value for the customers’ money,” Taruj said in his statement.
“We believe that this will be a game-changer in the market and will cater to different segments of customers,” he added.
The dynamic market prices are linked to the ATM on a real-time basis and will be displayed on the screen when a person attempts to make a purchase. It is learnt that the ATM can dispense gold coins of different denominations including 0.5 grams, 1 gram, 2 grams, 5 grams, 10 grams, 20 grams, 50 grams, up to 100 grams (or multiples of 5 grams).
The ATM also has a built-in camera and a sound alarm system as safety features.
Pratap, the Vice President of Goldsikka, told ANI that each ATM has a capacity of holding up to 5 kg of gold which is worth around Rs 2 to 3 crore.
“We are planning the next 3-4 machines in Hyderabad at the airport, old city, Ameerpet and Kukatpally. We received orders from Karimnagar and Warangal. We will further move to South India and set up around 3,000 ATMs across the country over a period of time. We are also planning to go global,” he added in his statement.