CIOTechOutlook >> Magazine >> August - 2013 issue
Vortex: Helping Banks Reach Out
By
Company:Vortex Engineering Pvt. Ltd. Founder:V. Vijay Babu,CEO; L.Kannan, CTO
Founded:2004
Website:www.vortexindia.co.in
Description:A provider of Automated Teller Machines and its associated services for banks. The company manufactures one of the lowest power consuming ATMs of the world.
Back in 2004, several banks approached IIT-M with a common problem that their ATMs were expensive, consumed lot of power and were not able to dispense soiled notes. They also faced issues in rolling out banking services in rural India. That is when IIT-M and one of its alumni L. Kannan, Founder & CTO, Vortex Engineering, involved in several discussions with these banks. After a long period of discussion, Kannan felt a need to build a product that could easily solve these issues and enable banking services to be available in the remote areas of India. Thus, started the journey of Vortex Engineering as a pioneer in manufacturing low power consuming ATMs for banks. The company was founded with the focus of improving the life of rural population by building technology for practical use.
Gradually this Chennai based company launched the ATMs and associated services for banks. V. Vijay Babu, CEO, Vortex Engineering, says, "It is not sufficient and suitable if we just bring a product that is available elsewhere and tamper it to fit it for the Indian needs. We believe we should create a product from the ground up for the Indian requirement and match with what India really requires".
Once their products were out in the market, they gathered customer feedback and improvised their products and started offering added services to mitigate any predicament attached to their ATMs. In the banking ecosystem, the ATMs get connected to a backend that needs several certifications and testing. Vortex partnered with the players in these fields to overcome all these constraints.
In some of the rural areas of India, electricity is just a visitor of few hours. Banks faced difficulties in rolling out ATMs in such places. But Vortex launched its ATMs that are low power consuming and can run on solar power helping banks reach out to consumers where electricity fails to. Such innovations are possible only with an innovative team. And in Vortex, the key cause of such innovation is the DNA of the company itself and its culture of independence where all the employees roll up their sleeves to tirelessly come up with a new solution.
With this distinctive characteristic, Vortex has rolled out around 800 ATMs and have an order list of around 10,000 ATMs to be deployed in next 2-3 years. This needed them to expand their operating space thus opening their second manufacturing unit in Puducherry. Their ATMs are deployed in several countries outside India as well, especially in Asia and Africa and plans to penetrate more into these areas. With a strong foundation built on years of R&D, Vortex is now changing the face of banking with their new rugged and reliable range of ATMs.
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