CMS Info Systems plans to invest upto Rs 1,300 crore on ATM ramp-up

Baring Private Equity-backed CMS Info Systems (CMS), plans invest upto Rs 1,300 crore to scale up its managed ATM business and cash management business in India.

Rajiv Kaul, vice-chairman and wholetime director, CMS Info System, said that starting with a capital expenditure of Rs 180-200 crore, the company expects to create 2,000 jobs. 

Out of them, 70 per cent of will be blue-collar job opportunities, and the balance 30 per cent white-collar ones.

The investment will be funded through internal accrual and debt. The span for investment would be over seven years, Kaul said.

For the time being, the firm does not envisage specific investment from its owner Baring for these plans, he added. Sion Investment Holdings, an affiliate of Baring Private Equity Asia, holds 100 per cent in the company.

CMS has received mandate from State Bank of India for a deployment of 3,000 ATMs. As a part of the term sheet, CMS will select the site, deploy ATMs, provide cash management services, regular maintenance, and upkeep of ATMs. The contract is valid for seven years, extendable up to three years. 

Early this year, it acquired the ATM business of Logicash Solutions (Logicash) in India for NISA Group, business group predominantly in security management, After the acquisition, the number of its ATMs is 72,000 from 62,000 earlier.

Besides CMS, the other players in ATM management include AGS Transact, SIS, and Writers Corp. Apart from ATM and cash management, CMS does maintenance and card personalisation services.

According to data from the Reserve Bank of India, the banking system had 1,13,981 onsite ATMs and 96,068 off-site ATMs at end of September this year. In addition, banks had 3,27,620 micro ATMs at the end of September.

On average CMS manages Rs 5,000 crore of cash a day in India. The company’s revenue stood at Rs 1,400 crore in FY20, increasing 20-25 per cent (year-on-year basis) due to new lines of business, acquisitions, managed services, and technology.