Commonwealth Bank customers can access cash using the bank’s official app by withdrawing money from the ATM without needing to use their bank card.
The “Cardless Cash” service allows customers to withdraw up to $200 a day from the any of the bank’s 3000 national ATMs. The new system also allows users to allow your funds be accessed by a designated third party (Commbank call it “helping a loved one” – isn’t that a nice way to describe someone asking you for a $200 loan), again without the need for a card.
How does it work?
Security has to be the big one – allowing someone to access their funds without a card seems a sure-fire way to see more people being robbed or defrauded. However, stealing someone’s phone isn’t enough to get your hands on $200, as you also need to know the PIN number for the account the phone is linked to.
Really, it’s far more secure than the increasingly popular PayPass system, because getting a PIN number for an account is far more difficult than simply lifting a wallet or card and swiping a piece of digitised plastic at a checkout.
Perhaps more importantly, Commbank ensures customers’ money with their “100% Security Guarantee“, which states:
The safety of your money is 100% guaranteed.
This means we’ll cover any loss should someone make an unauthorised transaction on your account using NetBank – provided you protect your Client number and Password, and immediately notify us of the loss, theft or misuse of your password and of any suspicious activity on your account.
“Cardless Cash provides a convenient and secure solution for customers to withdraw cash from Australia’s largest ATM network via their smartphone without needing an ATM card,” said Lisa Frazier, executive general manager of digital channels at the Commonwealth Bank.
“Cardless Cash not only gives our customers convenient access to cash when their card isn’t available, but also the ability to help out a family member or friend by sending cash to an ATM for collection in an emergency situation,” Frazier added.
Cardless Cash will be available to CommBank app users on Android and iPhone in May 2014.
This story was written by Joe Frost, a writer for Techly.com.au.
