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ATM withdrawals made easy with cellphones for the card challenged

First National Bank's customers forget their bank cards, but they always carry their cell phones.

March 24, 2011

A friend of mine seems to be always misplacing her debit card, especially when she needs it to withdraw cash from an ATM.

She keeps the card in her wallet, inside her purse, but it inexplicably falls out of her wallet into the bowels of her purse, which resembles a small suitcase. Or she puts her card into one of her coat pockets after using it to withdraw cash from a Chase ATM, but a few days later when she needs more cash she forgets what coat she was wearing at the time of the previous withdrawal.

In both cases, the disappearance of the debit card always sets off a frantic search, but it is not always successful.  She has had to ask Chase for a replacement card on three occasions. Although she either misplaces or loses her debit card, her iPhone is always in her hand. She sends emails, downloads new apps, checks websites or talks to someone.

First National Bank, which is based in Johannesburg, South Africa, has customers like my friend—the card challenged--and the bank has taken steps to help them. Earlier this week, First National Bank, or FNB, launched a program in which accountholders can withdraw funds from one of the bank’s more than 4,500 ATMs using their cellphones.

Ravesh Ramlakan, CEO of FNB Cellphone Banking Solutions, said the financial institution started the program after noticing customers would visit the bank’s branches to withdraw cash from the ATMs, but they were unable to do so because they had left their ATM card at home.

 “Customers do not carry a wallet or purse for a number of reasons—sometimes it’s too bulky, and sometimes it is because the customer has forgotten [it],” said Roshini Reddy of FNB Cellphone Banking Solutions.

The customers, however, always carried their cell phones, Ramlakan said. He explained that a cash withdrawal using FNB Cellphone Banking Solutions is always similar to a bank card, except customers no longer will need to use their bank cards.

To withdraw cash from a First National Bank ATM, customers must log onto Cellphone Banking and select a banking option. They then must choose "withdraw cash" and the account from which they want to take the funds, such as checking or savings.

Once the customer completes this step, the bank sends an SMS text message with a temporary PIN. The customer then goes to the ATM and selects "cardless services" and "withdraw cash" from a First National Bank account, Reddy said.

The next step requires the customer to type in his cellphone number and the temporary PIN, he added. The ATM dispenses the cash and issues the customer a receipt, confirming the transaction.

The PIN is good for 30 minutes to make a cash withdrawal, and customers can use the temporary PIN once.
First National Bank’s Cellphone Banking is designed to work with any mobile phone, and customers don’t need to download the service, Reddy said.

There has been much talk here in the United States about the cellphone replacing the wallet, but one of the early victims of the cellphone just might be the ATM card that  many of us cling to to make withdrawals, but  often lose or misplace. It is a perfect solution for my friend.

“In developing cash withdrawal, it is with the intention of providing our customers with 24-hour access to their cash—even without the use of a bank card,” Ramlakan said.