B2H - From the ATM

I recently chanced upon two articles on two different mediums on two completely different subjects. One was by some marketing experts on how the businesses are no more about B2C or B2B but about B2H. The other was a radical proposal by the new boss of Reserve Bank of India to let people withdraw cash from ATM without a bank account. Surprisingly, both these articles triggered some of my memories from the past and also got me thinking. The more I thought about them, the more I saw that amazing connection between these seemingly different articles.

“Soon, you can withdraw cash from ATM even without bank a/c

I read this on paper today. I neither see an immediate personal need for this facility in the near future to feel thrilled about it nor do I have any reservations against this proposal. But, weirdly though, it took me back to a distant memory from the late 1990s or early 2000s.

As was customary and fashionable in those days (read compulsory) I was shopping for a greeting card to wish a friend. I don’t mean the online version of the card but the conventional paper version by Archie’s. Trust me; gifting a greeting card to a girl was not as easy as just picking one of the shelves. Too mushy and you will be branded a wimp. Too funny and you will never be able to trigger that emotion that you hope to trigger. The trick is to pick a funny card and personalize the emotions by scribbling something on it or pick a mushy card and add something funny to make it look cool. To hell with modesty, this was one of those rare few things I was good at. Too bad, that culture is dead. On one such ‘compulsory’ customary visit to a greeting cards shop, I saw this funny one that had a man standing in front of an ATM, scratching his head with a caption “I didn’t know you needed an account to withdraw from ATM”. I almost felt bad for that poor little cartoon guy that day. I guess, not anymore. What was once meant to be a funny joke on a birthday card is becoming a reality today. No wonder, I don’t find that card anymore. Or maybe the RBI governor saw that card too and decided to do something more than just feel sorry as I did that day.

It’s no more B2B or B2C. It’s all about B2H

For the uninitiated, B2B is business to business, and B2C is business to consumers. An electronic chip manufacturing company selling their product to a mobile manufacturing company is B2B whereas Pepsi selling their watery sweet drink to you is B2C. So what then is B2H? According to the marketing gurus, it’s ‘business to humans’. Their collective wisdom makes them believe that the business world is actually moving to an era where businesses happen with humans. Wow. That’s profound.

I remember reading a very wise quote long back (must be early

2000’s again) during my initial days as a Sales executive – “All things being equal, I’d like to do business with a friend”.  I don’t know who said it or when but I decided to attribute it to the Chinese. While you are training the younger lot, quoting a proverb makes you look wise. But quoting an ‘old Chinese’ proverb makes you sound wiser and also adds that extra layer of wisdom to that quote itself. Old or new, Chinese or not, the quote made and still makes so much sense. From groceries to vegetables, from Gold to new dresses people always tends to buy from a particular shop. Not necessarily the nearest one. We always felt comfortable doing business with a friend. Reading about this newfound wisdom of B2H I started wondering. When was it ever not about B2H? Maybe, we live in a world and era of buzz words. Perhaps, B2H sounds a lot more modern than an 'old Chinese proverb'. Or maybe, Google’s new search algorithm identifies with this new buzz word better. So B2H it is for now. Until we come up with something that sounds cooler or buzzier that is.

The unlikely Connection

Like that head-scratching disappointed cartoon guy on that unsold birthday card there would have been millions of real humans who would have wished the same. 'How I wish I could withdraw money from that ATM even if I don’t have an account'. The RBI perhaps heard their secret wish. The use of technology and innovative ideas might be about creating that niche to capture a larger pie of the market share. But somewhere a wise man would be secretly smiling (I still bet it is a Chinese) at this proposal of using mobile technology to transfer money via ATM. because it means that the world still believes that businesses will thrive only as long as they are friendly to humans. It always was, it always will be business to humans - B2H if you like it.