Mumbai: Axis Bank is the country’s second largest bank acquiring merchants and jumping two spots in 2021 by installing over two lakh card swipe machines during the year. This is part of the bank’s ‘Axis One’ strategy of reaching out to customers and offering their full range of products instead of a standalone service.
“We are making aggressive progress in acquiring dealerships. We see retailers not just as buyers of a point-of-sale terminal (PoS), but as an opportunity to open a new checking account for their business, as a private savings account and as an opportunity to grant loans and insurance protection. We are expanding this business by offering new products to payment product retailers, â€said Sanjeev Moghe, Executive Vice President & Head (Cards & Payments) of Axis Bank.
The bank’s market share of the number of devices rose from 15% in January of this year to 16% by October. Your share of the spending is even greater as the bank constantly keeps track of the number of inactive terminals. “We have accelerated the onboarding process by making it completely paperless. While the onboarding for know-your-customer requirements is still being carried out in the presence of the retailer, we are working on ways to do this remotely, â€said Moghe.
The big leap in onboarding merchants – including small stores, organized retail and e-commerce merchants – came after the bank decided to stop looking at these card readers as a source of profit. “The business model is a losing model if only viewed as the difference between what you make from the merchant for the transaction and what you pay in exchange. Because of this, many banks have chosen not to do this and instead outsource it to partners or joint ventures. We decided to keep this business inside the bank, â€said Moghe. HDFC Bank is currently dominating the Merchant Acquiring division, followed by Axis Bank, which has overtaken SBI and ICICI Bank, both of which have outsourced merchant acquiring to a partner.
Axis Bank’s strategy of increasing the number of traders is to bring them the latest technology and address vulnerabilities. For example, the bank installs Android PoS machines and has also released a compact machine without a printer. “The billing receipt is no longer required for the comparison and many customers do not ask for the receipt because it is no longer needed,” says Moghe. On the agenda are bring-your-own-device (BYOD) solutions that enable the use of conventional smartphones with an adapter for card acceptance.
“We are making aggressive progress in acquiring dealerships. We see retailers not just as buyers of a point-of-sale terminal (PoS), but as an opportunity to open a new checking account for their business, as a private savings account and as an opportunity to grant loans and insurance protection. We are expanding this business by offering new products to payment product retailers, â€said Sanjeev Moghe, Executive Vice President & Head (Cards & Payments) of Axis Bank.
The bank’s market share of the number of devices rose from 15% in January of this year to 16% by October. Your share of the spending is even greater as the bank constantly keeps track of the number of inactive terminals. “We have accelerated the onboarding process by making it completely paperless. While the onboarding for know-your-customer requirements is still being carried out in the presence of the retailer, we are working on ways to do this remotely, â€said Moghe.
The big leap in onboarding merchants – including small stores, organized retail and e-commerce merchants – came after the bank decided to stop looking at these card readers as a source of profit. “The business model is a losing model if only viewed as the difference between what you make from the merchant for the transaction and what you pay in exchange. Because of this, many banks have chosen not to do this and instead outsource it to partners or joint ventures. We decided to keep this business inside the bank, â€said Moghe. HDFC Bank is currently dominating the Merchant Acquiring division, followed by Axis Bank, which has overtaken SBI and ICICI Bank, both of which have outsourced merchant acquiring to a partner.
Axis Bank’s strategy of increasing the number of traders is to bring them the latest technology and address vulnerabilities. For example, the bank installs Android PoS machines and has also released a compact machine without a printer. “The billing receipt is no longer required for the comparison and many customers do not ask for the receipt because it is no longer needed,” says Moghe. On the agenda are bring-your-own-device (BYOD) solutions that enable the use of conventional smartphones with an adapter for card acceptance.
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