The State Bank of India on Monday launched a state-of-the-art 'floating ATM,' said to be the first in the country.

The ATM, which was inaugurated here by Ashok Kini, deputy managing director (IT), SBI, corporate centre, Mumbai, has been installed on a jhankar (ferry which transports vehicles and passengers) plying between Ernakulam and Vypeen, one of the most densely populated areas in Asia.

The ferry, which belongs to the Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation, will be making 30 trips a day across the two islands carrying approximately 5,000 people and their vehicles.

The ATM will cater to the needs of the travelling public in Ernakulam and has been supplied by NCR corporation while connectivity has been established by Reliance Infocomm using CDMA (code division multiple access) technology.

Kini told reporters that the SBI group has more than 9,000 branches in India and had the largest ATM network in the country.

The bank was also planning to set up ATMs in college campuses and also take it to rural areas and to smaller towns.

In Kerala, SBI will have 140 ATMs by year end and by March 2005, it would be doubled, he said.

With the tourist inflow into the state picking up, there will be no dearth of customers, he added.

The bank has recently set up an ATM at Leh, about 16,000 feet above sea level, for the benefit of army personnel.