News

UK to get cardless cash withdrawals

March 1, 2012

Consumers in the UK will soon have access to ATM cash without needing a card to retrieve it.

A partnership between Ukash and Bank Machine, a large-scale IAD in the UK, enables customers to exchange online funds into cash, without the need for a debit or credit card, at Bank Machine ATMs, throughout the British Isles.

Bank Machine and Ukash have been working on the initiative since April 2011 and are set to see cardless cash withdrawals go live at the start of June 2012.

Customers are able to buy Ukash at over 420,000 retailers worldwide which can then be used to pay online on thousands of websites, according to a press release. The new collaboration between Bank Machine and Ukash will allow consumers to complete the cash circle by converting their Ukash back into cash at Bank Machine ATMs.

Officials hope the new initiative will broaden customers' convenient access to their cash, and allow users greater autonomy in online spending as well as maintaining privacy, security and control over budgets.

Where users accumulate a balance from online competitions, or have unspent online balance, they can opt to use the "Ukash Out" service which will convert their balance into a unique code. This secure code, along with other identifying information, can be entered into participating Bank Machine ATMs, allowing the Ukash customer to immediately withdraw cash.

Bank Machine installed the first independent ATM in the UK in 1998. In recent years it charmed consumers by introducing Cockney language ATMs.

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