Hitachi Money Spot Plus is a Financial Inclusion Initiative Launched by India-based Hitachi Payment Services.
Hitachi Money Spot Plus offers a broad range of services through a network of “Hitachi Partners”.
Accessible via the Google Play Store app, Hitachi Money Spot Plus delivers inclusive financial services in Tier 3 to Tier 6 towns through a network of retailers known as Hitachi Partners.
Technically, it provides a seamless one-stop platform, complementing the Hitachi Partners network for widespread accessibility.
What’s in the Bundle
The list of services included in Hitachi Money Spot Plus are: Aadhaar Enabled Payment Services, Micro ATM Services, Domestic Money Transfers, Mobile & DTH Recharges, and Bill Payments. This initiative aims to enable financial transactions in hinterlands, focusing on delivering digital benefits to the last mile in an assisted digital mode.
For its initial launch in India, Hitachi Payment Services has partnered with Yes Bank.
As stated by both companies, the collaboration leverages Yes Bank’s robust banking expertise and Hitachi Payment Services' network and technology infrastructure to provide reliable and secure financial services to the underserved.
What Does Hitachi Payment Services Do?
Hitachi Payment Services is an end-to-end payments and commerce solutions provider enabling financial institutions, payment aggregators, and fintechs with a comprehensive array of solutions focused on security, reliability, and innovation.
A forerunner in the Indian payments space, it oversees over 66,000 ATMs, including 27,500 Cash Recycling Machines. Moreover, it caters to over 3 million merchant touchpoints and processes over 10 million transactions daily.
Recently, the company announced the successful deployment of 10,000 White Label ATMs (WLAs) under the Hitachi Money Spot ATM brand name.
These WLAs, strategically located in semi-urban and rural areas, aim to bridge the gap in banking accessibility, offering citizens convenient banking services.
Additionally, the company introduced the first-of-its-kind UPI ATM on the Android platform for card-less cash withdrawals, further driving financial inclusion in areas with limited banking infrastructure.
Why It Is a Strategic Move
Mobile phones are becoming an integral part of Indian people's daily lives, and the country boasts one of the highest internet penetrations in the world. FinTech apps have therefore been helping India boost financial inclusion, especially in rural areas.
Nowadays, millions of farms and customers, in both the formal and vast informal economies, can accept payments, settle invoices, and transfer funds anywhere in the country with just a few screen taps.
Commenting on the launch of the new service, executives from Hitachi Payment Services said the growth of internet penetration and financial literacy in India, especially in their rural communities, presents an urgent call for a resilient payment infrastructure that can keep pace with this rapid expansion.
Retailers and merchants are the last-mile touchpoints for customers: a precious resource to bring easy access to finance everywhere in the country. That's why the service is being extended to financial inclusion initiatives.
Chief Executive Officer - Digital Business at Hitachi Payment Services, Anuj Khosla, emphasized the importance of evolving payment infrastructure in response to the rise of internet penetration and financial literacy in India.
He said, «Retailers and merchants are the last mile touchpoints, enabling easy access to finance for customers. Recognizing this, we are extending our services to include financial inclusion initiatives. We are not just building a payment infrastructure; we are building bridges to financial empowerment and contributing to the nation’s progress».
Naveen Chaluvadi, Chief Digital Officer at Yes Bank, spoke of this partnership as a testament to Yes Bank's dedication to promoting financial inclusion. He mentioned that the initiative would ensure «financial transactions at hinterlands, focusing on taking digital benefits to the last mile in an assisted digital mode».
