• Anthony Duffy, Director of Retail Banking in UK & Ireland at Fujitsu


• 22.11.2016 10:30 am
undisclosed

News that Barclays is trialling cash withdrawals from ATMs using mobile phones is good news for customers of British banks. It provides a further example of how the banking industry is using technology to accelerate and improve the banking experience for its clients.

It also provides evidence that British banks are learning from other financial institutions, particularly those based overseas. In Spain, La Caixa has offers contactless cash withdrawal from ATMs – actioned by passing a card over a reader, much in the same way as contactless transaction is made – since 2012. Another Spanish bank, Banco Sabadell has, since 2013, enabled customers who use its app to make cash withdrawals, by requesting and receiving a code that is input into an ATM to authorise the transaction. Also since 2013, FIS has provided a similar phone-based service in the United States, to banks which use its platform to support ATM operations.

As technology continues to change banking, Fujitsu expects to see self-service devices, such as ATMs, take on a new importance within branch operations. The ATMs that Fujitsu manufactures and deploys can already provide a wide-range of added-value services, such as deposit acceptance, bill payment and transaction management. Some banks use Fujitsu’s biometric offering to authorise cash withdrawal by “reading” the veins contained within the palm of a hand. Making the customer experience easy, if not pleasurable, will form an increasingly important part of the banking proposition.