Kollam: The point of sale (POS) machines came handy for customers at retail shops after the withdrawal of high-value banknotes. But the sharp rise in the use of these card swiping machines has started jamming the network. The heavy data traffic, in turn, keeps the customers in virtual queues, sometimes indefinitely during peak hours. “The slowdown of the network is due to the high frequency of credit or debit card purchases, sparingly used earlier. Their bandwidth should be upgraded accordingly,” D. Sukumar, manager of Indian Bank, the lead bank of Kollam district, told DC.

Currently, the banks in urban areas have a higher bandwidth than the countryside. Subsequently, a higher rate of purchase using swiping machines attached to accounts in rural banks leads to bottlenecks and consequently slower connectivity. Banks are now aggressively promoting POS machines without increasing the bandwidth. They also sell more cards, both in rural and urban areas, taking advantage of the cash crisis.

“Earlier it was tough to convince vendors to install these machines. But now they are forced to, and we get a lot of enquiries on a daily basis," Priya Antony of SBT multi-product selling team told DC. "Small and large retailers now depend on these machines as a secondary option for currency.” To install POS machines, the retailers should have a current account with the respective bank. For connecting SBT POS with BSNL landline, there is no rent, but for GPRS devices that are wireless one has to pay a monthly rent of Rs 440 and the service tax. The swiping charge for all transactions is around 0.75 percent of the billing amount.