Reliance Money to set up kiosks at CMC outlets

Reliance Money, the financial distribution company of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, has signed an agreement with CMC Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), to install web-enabled kiosks at CMC franchisee outlets across the country. Details of the deal size and revenue-sharing arrangements were not disclosed.

Announcing the tie-up here, Sudip Bandyopadhay, director and chief executive officer, Reliance Money, said, "CMC has 250 outlets at strategic locations and the kiosks will be installed at these points to facilitate our customers to conduct online transactions. Broadband penetration is only around 1.5 per cent in India and many do not have access to laptops and cybercafés, which proves to be a deficiency in the delivery of financial services. We are installing the kiosks to enable better reach to our customers."

Under the agreement, apart from the installation of kiosks, which it expects to increase by 20 per cent per annum, CMC will train end users at their outlets in using the kiosks.

CMC will also come up with tailor-made courses across all functions to suit the employment needs of Reliance Money.

"We will work with Reliance Money to provide enhanced and value-added services," Ramanathan Ramanan, managing director and chief executive officer, CMS, said.

Each customer will be given a token card, with a six-digit number, which can be used to log in at the trading kiosks to conduct financial transactions online. The six-digit number changes every 32 seconds to provide security measures to the customers, according to Bandyopadhyay.

Reliance Money plans to set up 10,000 kiosks across the country by the end of the year. The company has identified 5,165 tehsils out of 5,635 tehsils in the country. The company has already set up 2,500 kiosks in the first two months of its operations.