Contactless payment technology can be used for other purposes than paying for goods and services. Barclays, one of the UK’s largest financial institutions, will install contactless cash machines throughout the country. By doing so, they will allow customers to withdraw up to £100 in cash by using contactless technology.
Barclays Sees Merit In Contactless Cash Options
For quite some time, contactless technology was touted as a way to get rid of cash altogether. As it turns out, though, there is no urge by consumers to transition into a cashless society all of a sudden. Instead, Barclays will venture in a different direction, by combining the best of both worlds into one new offering.
To be more precise, the bank sees a bright future for contactless cash terminals. Similarly to other bank terminals, they will allow customers to withdraw cash from their bank accounts. Doing so will require a tap against the terminal with a debit card or mobile phone that offers NFC capabilities. While there is a £100 daily withdrawal limit, the concept sounds quite intriguing.
Rolling out this new service will take some time, and Barclays will install new terminals in 180 branches in the North. This process will begin in early 2017 and is expected to come to over 600 in-branch terminals over the coming months. For now, it appears that these terminals are only compatible with Android smartphones, although that has not been officially confirmed.
To withdraw contactless cash with a mobile device, users need the Barclays banking app installed on their phone. They can then enter the amount in the app and confirm it with their PIN code. Another option is to hold the device against the terminal and enter the amount on the touchpad. Both options work similarly, as the cash will be available for withdrawal immediately.
Barclays UK CEO Ashok Vaswani told the media:
“Our customers now expect to be able to use their smartphone to make their everyday purchases. We want taking out cash to be just as easy. With Contactless Cash customers can quickly and securely take-out money with just a tap of their smartphone – a first for the UK.”
This new concept serves a security purpose as well. Card skimming has become a significant threat as of late, and Barclays wants to address that problem with contactless technology. Distraction fraud numbers should be brought down as well through this new method, It appears the future for contactless and cash remains entwined for now.
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