Diebold debuts cardless ATM at CES

By Elliott Holley

ATM maker Diebold has developed an ATM that lets customers withdraw cash without using a card – and saves the bank money in the process.

To complete a cardless withdrawal, the bank customer scans the ATM’s QR code using a smartphone. When the devices sync via the cloud, a transaction screen appears on the smartphone, allowing the user to select the withdrawal amount. The cloud server then sends a one-time code to the smartphone, which the customer enters on the ATM screen to authenticate the transaction and receive cash.

Cardless transactions are of interest to banks bcause they would reduce the cost of issuing and replacing physical cards. That potentially makes providing ATM services much more profitable for high-street banks. For the customer the main advantage is the ability to withdraw cash in the event of a lost or stolen card, and in the future the possibility of not having the onerous burden of having to carry a card and a phone.

The ATM can also be used for customers to send each other cash. The user sets up a pre-staged transaction that authorises the third-party to access the desired amount of cash. The customer inputs the payment amount and recipient’s contact information, as in online banking, and the recipient receives a one-time code that can be used at an ATM or branch to withdraw the cash.

“Mobile devices are driving user experience expectations in all facets of commerce,” said Frank A. Natoli, executive vice president and chief innovation officer at Diebold. “With the burgeoning buying power of the millennial generation, Diebold envisions this technology will further influence user experiences at the ATM.”

Technology vendors and banks have been keen to provide new ways of using the ATM in recent years, as mobile and online technology has gained in popularity. Earlier this month, ATM maker NCR acquired US-based uGenius, a company that specialises in video banking. The concept behind uGenius is to provide video banking services that can increase bank engagement with the retail customer while cutting costs.

However, some bank attempts to capitalise on the rise of new payments technology have been undermined by financial crime, as criminals exploit the combination of mobile and online banking technology to steal funds. In September last year, UK bank NatWest was targeted by criminals who stole money from customer accounts using ‘Get cash’, a feature of the bank’s mobile app. Get cash worked by letting customers use a passcode created by their online account to withdraw cash via mobile.

Although NatWest subsequently withdrew the facility, it has since been suggested by financial crime and technology specialist NICE Actimize that the hackers likely used phishing emails to extract the code, bypassing the bank’s best efforts at security.

Meanwhile, competition has been heating up between rival ATM manufacturers. In November, US-based Diebold last year hired John Ennis from competitor Wincor Nixdorf to spearhead its push into the UK and Ireland markets, which have traditionally been dominated by Wincor Nixdorf and NCR.

Diebold is planning to launch pilot testing of its new ATM with financial institutions later this year. The CES demos are enabled by cloud-based services delivered via Verizon, on whose exibition stand the Diebold kit is being shown.