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Saturday, May 15, 2010

What Can the ATM dispense ??????


During the days when we grow up, most cinemas would have a scene – whether it was securing a kidnapped rich boy or running away from the Nation, illegal trading, smuggling or…………. – the villain group would carry a black suitcase. We would be told that it contains gold biscuits and hence of great value. It would fly around when hero fights – little did we thought of the weight of so many pieces of gold. It was fun !!!!!


Old order does not changeth all the time – the mad rush for gold continues. Average Indians attach great value for Gold – its richness is weighed in marriages – as the gift to the bridegroom and flaunted by ladies visiting the marriages. Most women are extremely fond of gold jewellery and the milling crowds at the Gold shops in T Nagar vouch for this. In the recent past, there is an added rage – buying gold (coins atleast) on the Akshaya Tritiya day.



 This year it falls on 16th May 2010. This day also known as  Akha Teej is a holy day falling on the third Tithi (Lunar day) of Bright Half (Shukla Paksha) of Hindu month of Vaishaka.  This day is connected with Parashurama and mythology has it that Tretha yug began on this day as also Ganges descended to the earth. The word "Akshaya" means the never diminishing in Sanskrit language and is believed to bring good luck and success.



I personally would advocate doing something good on this day rather than buying the yellow metal. However, beliefs are beliefs and every individual would have a different perspective.

From the traditional withdrawal from Bank standing in queue filling challans and always appearing bemused, automated teller machines (ATM) have changed the way of money transaction. All and sundry now flaunt no. of cards and allowing withdrawal from ATM of any bank has just added to the confusion. Still it is never to be understanding, as to why people should queue before ATM and how do people get change of small denominations ?

The yellow metal, GOLD is a chemical element with symbol Au (from Latinaurum, "shining dawn") and an atomic number of 79. From time immemorial it has more value attached than its intrinsic and utilitarian value. It is malleable and the ornaments are indeed attractive. Thousands of tonnes of gold continue to be mined. This article is about the innovative sale pitch of TG Gold Super Market.



Gold is a good thing to have in your pocket in these uncertain economic times, says Thomas Geissler, CEO of Reutlingen (Germany) based TG-Gold-Super-Market. To take his point further they have provided a new angle to Gold sale.



Ofcourse not everywhere – but some beginning at Airport in Frankfurt and a luxury hotel in Abu Dhabi where Vending machine gives you shining gold. It is not only shining luster looking machines ; they give out gold in the form of 1 gram, 5 gram, 10 gram and 1 ounce bars, and also Krugerrand, Kangaroo and Maple Leaf gold coins (individual machines may have custom settings). The bars and coins come in snazzy presentation cases but even so, they're said to cost about 20 percent less than what a German bank or other financial institution would charge.

TG Gold-Super-Markt installed their first GOLD To Go® vending machine in Germany's Frankfurt Airport last summer; sensing the increasing the demand, they have pursued expansion plan targeting other European cities and the oil-rich city states of the Middle east. This week a latest GOLD To Go® machine has just been installed in the lobby of Abu Dhabi's Emirates Palace hotel; it dispenses gold bars of only 1 and 10 grams, plus a series of gold coins displaying custom engraved designs.




The CEO says that he is yet to meet a woman who does not like a gift of gold !!




Good premium but risk potential is tough for the Insurer. The machines would be built like bank vaults and obviously the exposure would not be made public.

This concept might not click in this part of the World, as people would like to feel the gold before they purchase; ask for some reduction; the sales person would take it to his supervisor and announce a measly discount and finally you are handed over your purchase alongwith a small (many a times of no use and meaningless) gift.


May be it could end up becoming a sanctuary for small investors. This company had earlier created an online platform for trading precious metals. The CEO Mr. Geissler estimates the market in Germany alone at 150 tons of physical gold each year, the demand for various paper forms of it being even greater. His system allows prices to be updated every few minutes via a link to Ex Oriente Lux's online shop, and it has a camera to monitor purchases to confirm adherence to the law. The product is dispensed in a handsome box. Purchases can be made by cash or by credit card.

There was a poster which had sprung up – "After your purchase on Akshaya thritiya – have your investment gone up or the interest on the loan that you bought".

Regards – Sampathkumar S



The ever crowded T Nagar Ranganathan Street had another reason to be so :

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