Can't get to the ATM for cash? The ATM will send the cash to you

From ATMmarketplace.com

Researchers at a Pune, India, university have developed a handheld "micro ATM" that bank customers can use to get cash delivered directly to them when they can't — or would rather not — make a run to the ATM.

According to a report by Times of India, the unit is ideal for installation at workplaces and housing developments, and could be especially helpful to elderly accountholders who are too frail or too afraid to go to an ATM themselves.

The transaction is carried out just as it would be at a traditional ATM. The accountholder authenticates him- or herself to the device via a fingerprint scan and an Aadhaar national ID card.

When the transaction is comple, the user receives a printed receipt from the device, which also sends an electronic version to the accountholder's bank.

Once the bank has received and verified the transaction request, a delivery boy is dispatched to carry the money to the recipient's doorstep.

Cash is delivered within 30 minutes of bank verification and can be given only to the individual whose name appears on the receipt.

The National Payments Corp. of India has said that the concept is viable.

"If [government] certifications are complied with, this kind of a system is not impossible," NPCI CEO A.P. Hota told the Times of India. "In fact, more and more banks, are now accepting requests for doorstep transaction deliveries."

The developers hope to bring the product to market by next July, once patents for the device have been secured.