The public's broad acceptance of mobile technology plays a big role in mobile payments projects, and it's also driven ATM strategy at Barclays.
Barclays, which has been an active adopter of mobile payments and financial services, plans to enable contactless ATM withdrawals by next year. It will allow customers to take up to £100 out by tapping their Android mobile devices or debit cards at the terminal. The pilot will be concentrated in the North; Barclays plans to roll it out to 600 machines across 180 branches in 2017.
“Our customers now expect to be able to use their smartphone to make their everyday purchases,” Ashok Vaswani, CEO of Barclays UK, toldthe Telegraph, who first reported the news. “We want taking out cash to be just as easy.”
A sign sits outside the regional offices of Barclays Plc in Poole, U.K., on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012. Major international banks are looking to move more of their staff out of London to their regional offices in the future. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
The bank also said removing the threat from magnetic card skimming will make withdrawals more secure and lower the risk of distraction fraud.
Android users must be logged into Barclays’ mobile banking app. They can either enter the desired withdrawal amount and PIN into the app and then tap the device against the machine to receive their cash; or, they can place their phone or debit card against the contactless reader and enter their PIN into the ATM.
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