Are cardless cash withdrawals the future?
If you’ve ever lost or forgotten your bank card at the supermarket checkout, then this will be exciting news. Going cardless to withdraw money at the ATM just became a reality.
It’s happened to the best of us. You go to pay for something at the supermarket or in the newsagent, and your bank card is not in your wallet. According to a recent report, 45 per cent of people have gone through this exact scenario.
The Westpac Emergency Cash report found that nearly two million ATM cards are reported lost or stolen each year – that’s enough to cover the length of more than 850 football fields. It also found that more than half of Australians feel lost without their ATM card, which isn’t surprising given how many people go cashless in today’s electronic world.
It’s for these reasons, and to make it easier on someone who does lose their card or reports it stolen, that Westpac will launch Emergency Cash. This initiative will help people cancel their cards if needed and access their cash with a phone call.
With the report showing that 62 per cent of Australians call their bank as soon as they realise their wallet is lost, Westpac said when a person phones into its call centre staff will issue them with a unique code. This will enable a person to withdraw their cash from eligible accounts at the nearest Westpac ATM.
David Lindberg, chief product officer at Westpac, says the bank’s Emergency Cash will help its customers get cash when they need it the most, especially given most people at some stage have been in situations where they’ve been without their wallet.
“Whatever your cash emergency is – whether you’ve lost your wallet, it’s been stolen or you’ve simply left it at home – it can be solved by a quick phone call any time of the day or night, to receive a cash code to get your cash,” he explains.
The initiative will allow people to make up to three cardless withdrawals a day to the value of $1000, with a total withdrawal limit of $2000 per week.
To ensure security, people will need to identify themselves through a series of questions prior to being issued a unique six-digit cash code, which will expire within three hours or immediately after it has been used.
Westpac Emergency Cash will be available to customers next month throughout its ATM network. From September, customers will be able to generate a code in Westpac mobile banking to make a cardless cash withdrawal.