Mumbai: In a substantial push for cashless deal, State Bank of India is all set to raise the number of its ATMs by more than three times to 25,000 by 2010.

This means the India’s largest bank will add up more than 5,900 ATMs annually. SBI has 7,200 ATMs at present. While some of these ATMs will be owned by the bank, SBI is also exploring other options such as outsourcing.

SBI Chairman O P Bhatt stated, “We are open to looking at other business models to bring down the cost and fast rollout.”

The bank has anticipated an expenditure of Rs 850 crore, and the recent project gave the bank and chance to look for low-cost resolutions while negotiating with vendors.

Presently, there are 22,000 ATMs in the country, and the SBI leads the path with 7,200, whereas ICICI Bank is on the second place with 3,500 ATMs.

In the meantime, the bank has instigated SBI Gold International Debit card in collaboration with Visa International. This card will provide a facility for card to card transfer of funds across the banks.

It would have cash withdrawal facility of Rs 50,000 from ATMs and a daily transaction limit of Rs 2,00,000 at the point of sale (POS).

“The bank will encourage use of cards and make cashless banking happen in India,” Mr. Bhatt added.