Article

For ATM withdrawals, will a click replace a card?

With the push of a button, mobile prestaging users can put cash in their wallet without taking their ATM card out of it.  

November 26, 2012 by Suzanne Cluckey — Owner, Suzanne Cluckey Communications

As of the second quarter of this year, more than 54 percent of American adults carried a smartphone, according to Nielson. Among those in the tech-oriented 18–29 age group, the figure was even higher, at two-thirds (66 percent). This group, which is just forming its financial practices and bank loyalties, is one that FIs are most anxious to capture.

For a number of reasons — targeting the young adult demo, demonstrating financial relevance-slash-hipness, increasing loyalty among existing customers — the financial services industry has sharpened its focus on smartphones and apps as the next customer-facing financial services technology. And ATM manufacturers have shown them one way to integrate smartphones and self-service: mobile prestaging of cash withdrawals at the ATM.

Approaches to the process vary from one provider to the next — how they use GPS technology, for instance, or whether the transaction trigger is a bar code or a number sequence — but the end result is the same: a cardless, simple-to-use, faster-than-ever way to get cash at the ATM.

At this year's BAI Retail Delivery show in Washington, D.C., NCR showcased its own ATM withdrawal prestaging app, demonstrating how easily a banking customer can get cash at an NCR ATM — without so much as touching the machine. See how it works in the video below:

For more on this topic, visit the mobile banking research center.

cover photo: tearxintherain

About Suzanne Cluckey

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Suzanne’s editorial career has spanned three decades and encompassed all B2B and B2C communications formats. Her award-winning work has appeared in trade and consumer media in the United States and internationally.