A gold ATM in one of the poorest country is a good idea?

If you read about gold ATM, who allows to “withdraw” (or more likely buy) gold directly, the first country is Saudi Arabia. Gold ATMs exist there for couple years now. Saudi Arabia is 39. by GDP per capita and it’s oil major producer – so no surprise there. You could also expect such ATMs in Hong Kong, New York, maybe London or Zurich – in a financial centrers of the world. But how about India? 139. location by GDP per capita in the world…

India has a GDP of $2,466 per capita, but gold is a common gift, especially for newly-weds. Wedding season increases the demand for gold.

Goldsikka is an India’s goldselling company. In December of 2022, they installed the first ATM in India to sell gold. What’s new about this machine is that the price is updated in real time and shows the current spot price as the base for the transaction. The ATM accepts debit and credit cards and can hold up to 5 kg of gold. Anyone can buy a coin from as low as 0.5 gram up to 100 gram. It’s available 24/7 in company’s head office in town Hyderabad in south-central India.

Goldsikka plans to install up to 4 more Gold ATMs in the same town, but with the idea to spread it throughout India with around 3 000 ATMs.

Do you think this could be the future to gold market, especially for individual buyers?