New Mumbai ATM Dispenses Diamonds and Gold
By Amrit Dhillon
Gitanjali
Gitanjali CEO Sanjeev Agarwal, left, and Bollywood actress Raima Sen unveiled the new ATM in Mumbai. Forgotten that critical birthday or anniversary gift? Salvation awaits in India with a new, diamond-dispensing ATM.
The aim is to satisfy “impulsive needs,” says Sanjeev Agarwal, chief executive of Gitanjali, the jewelry retailer that opened the ATM in Mumbai’s Phoenix Mill shopping center.
“If you’re at the airport or at a temple and want to buy a gift or a memento of the temple, you can do it there and then,” he says. “Or if it’s Valentine’s Day, and you need something, the ATM will do the job.”
In addition to diamonds, patrons can buy gold and silver coins through the machine as well.
Mr. Agarwal kept an eye on the ATM Wednesday to see who it attracted, saying the patrons included a thirtysomething man who bought a gold coin, two young women who bought diamond pendants and a middle-aged man who grumbled, after his wife bought a diamond, that “shopping is going to be dangerous with this damn machine around.”
“Another couple I saw ended up fighting,” Mr. Agarwal adds. “She wanted the boyfriend to buy her a diamond. He told her it would wipe out his account. Last I saw of them, he was running away from the ATM.”
Gitanjali’s gold and diamonds come with certifications verifying their authenticity. The products range in price from $20 to $700. Mr. Agarwal says the company plans to open 75 such ATMs throughout India — wherever people congregate in large numbers.