Simply insert a credit or debit card and press a couple of buttons to buy gold, at the real-time market price, on the first ATM dispensing this metal lovely opened this week in India.

“Today I bought gold from an ATM, it’s a new experience for me. I bought one gram of gold with this new technology,” a smiling customer swore in a video shared by the company this Thursday goldsikkabehind this vending machine opened in the southern city of hyderabad.

In a country obsessed with this precious metal, one of the main world markets with which it is associated religious cults and ostentatious jewels Worn mostly by women but some men as well, the company promises to “complete basic transactions to buy gold without having to go to any jewelry store,” according to a press release.

Goldsikka facilitates access from half a gram to one hundred grams of gold “at the lowest possible price”, purchases linked to the market price updated in real time: “Clients can buy gold instantly using any credit or debit card.”

The company hopes, amid a price hike of this metal considered a safe value in times of crisis and reaching almost 54,000 rupees per ten grams (about $655), to create a network of its gold-colored ATMs in the southern city and “especially in rural areas”.

According to the latest report from the World Gold Council, India is largely responsible for the increase in global sales of this precious metal between July and September last, “due to a return to levels of economic activity prior to the coronavirus”.

It is traditional to make offerings of gold to some gods, but also to give it away on births, birthdays or celebrations marked as the important Hindu festival of Diwali. It is also the protagonist metal of the sumptuous weddings of the Asian country.

In fact, according to the World Gold Council, weddings generate around 50% of the annual demand for the precious metal in India. EFE extension