Bengaluru: With the arrival of the first shipment of card swipe machines at HOPCOMS outlets in the city, consumers need not worry about the issues rising out of demonetisation. Now consumers can buy vegetables and fruits at HOPCOMS outlets by using credit or debit cards.
By the end of December, about 250 HOPCOMS outlets in the city will have card swipe machines, with the number expected to rise to 300 soon after. “This is our immediate initiative in association with the State Bank of India,” said K.B. Krishna, managing director of HOPCOMS. “We lost nearly 30 per cent of the business on vegetables and fruits after the demonetisation, which pushed us into expediting this move.”
The HOPCOMS has more than 6,000 farmers in its supply chain and buys vegetables worth Rs. 20 lakh every day. “Although the payments to farmers [are made] through RTGS, [the number of] people buying vegetables and fruits from us has come down drastically after the demonetisation,” Krishna said. He said customers can pay even Rs. 10 by card.
Rajni Mishra, chief general manager, SBI local head office, Bengaluru, said the initiative is funded and will be maintained free of cost by the bank. N.M. Harishankar, AGM, Merchant Acquiring Business, SBI, said, “Although each machine will cost us about Rs. 4,000, apart from maintenance costs, we wanted to do this as a service to HOPCOMS as it is an organic chain. Also, it is our endeavour to see people use less cash.”
The PoS (Point of Sale) machines can be used both to swipe cards and draw cash up to Rs. 2,000 per swipe. “As of now, HOPCOMS has asked us for the swipe facility only. In case they need cash on swipe, we are ready to provide the feature,” he said.
