Cashless, Cardless, Contactless Banking

Change is the only constant thing in this world. And money is the best example to illustrate this. From the time goods were exchanged called Barter Exchange to Metal Money like copper, bronze or gold to Paper Money, the form of money kept on evolving with human evolution and human needs. In the recent history, paper currency was replaced with cheques, drafts, bills of exchange and then came plastic cards: Credit and Debit Cards. With the advancement of technologies, banking and financial industry is now adapting the ‘Digital Payment’ system along with biometric and facial recognition technologies, which is replacing the paper cash and plastic cards.

Banks and fintech companies are developing innovative solutions for consumers to pay for goods and withdraw cash without payment cards, offering entirely new ways to transact.

According to NASDAQ, the concept of a digital wallet, or eWallet, was first introduced in the late 1990’s with PayPal, the first software solution that allowed users to store their card information for repeated purchases. By 2021 alone, the eWallet will have taken over 51% of the e-commerce market in the Asia-Pacific, overshadowing credit card use for the first time ever.

In the US, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo are among those that are grabbing on to the emerging mobile payment trend.

Microsoft and National Australia Bank have collaborated to design a proof of concept Automated Teller Machine (ATM) that draws on facial recognition, cloud and artificial intelligence technology.

The cloud-based application, which uses Azure Cognitive Services, was designed to improve the customer experience by eliminating the need for customers to use physical cards or devices to withdraw cash from ATMs. Instead, a customer who opted into the service would be able to withdraw cash from an ATM using facial recognition technology and a PIN.

The system does not store images, only the biometric data, which is held securely on Microsoft’s trusted cloud platform; it will be erased following the experiment. Since no card is involved, there is no risk of card theft or skimming.

ToneTag uses sound-wave technology to enable connected experiences of tomorrow, irrespective of the device the customer or the merchant is using.

Customers can use any ToneTag integrated mobile applications on existing merchant terminals like POS/EDC for proximity payments. All payments go through multi-layered encryption and blockchain technology, making them highly safe and secure. ToneTag makes shopping experience easier, fun, and a lot quicker.

ToneTag RetailPod allows businesses to accept cashless and contactless payments whenever, wherever, and however they choose without depending on internet or any infrastructure.

  • Airtel Payments Bank customers can now make card-less cash withdrawals at select ATMs across the country using instant money transfer technology
  • Chase will let consumers go cardless at ATMs in favor of mobile wallets. Customers can upload their cards to services like Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay. Chase is the most recent bank to embrace a cardless society. Its customers can withdraw cash with their mobile wallets at nearly all of its 16,000 ATMs in the United States.
  • Wells Fargo announced similar functionality at its 13,000 ATMs with what it calls “one-time access code technology” that enables customers to use an eight-digit token and their PIN instead of a physical card. It also said ATM transactions with mobile wallets would follow later this year.
  • Russia will soon have its first contactless ATMs capable of performing transactions — including cash withdrawals and more — via a smartphone with Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay. Sberbank and Russian Standard Bank launched the NFC-enabled ATMs in a pilot test this fall; it is expected that the two banks will be joined in 2019 by leading Russian financial institutions such as VTB Bank, Credit Bank of Moscow, Bank Otkritie Financial Corp. and others.
  • In Europe, cardless ATM technology has taken hold slowly and gradually, starting with Spain in April 2011 and peaking in 2017 with adoption by Barclays. Latvia and Estonia in the Baltic region were the last EU countries to launch contactless ATMs in the EU.
  • Standard Chartered launches cardless ATM withdrawals via mobile app.
  • Biometrics has been used extensively in the global banking infrastructure due to its convenience and security feature. DCB Bank in India has launched Aadhaar-based authentication at its ATMs to enable cardless financial transactions. Traditionally the ATM card security was based on two-way authentication process which has a card and a pin number, but it has now been made cardless and painless by DCB bank. So now your fingerprint will replace your ATM card and Aadhar number will replace the PIN number.

With only the use of a single API, Rapyd allows its end-customers to make digital payments across more than 105 countries, and in more than 70 currencies. By enabling digital cash transactions, cash deposits, withdrawals and payments become completely cardless.

Government of India’s Digital India and Digital Payments are some of the biggest initiatives in the world for financial inclusion and use of technology in the Indian banking system. Merchant app of the Indian Post Payments Bank has made it possible to do cashless transactions possible for the people living in the remote rural areas. IPPB QR card redefines the way banking is done. It provides a unique, secure and convenient way to access your account without the hassle of remembering your account number. You do not need to remember your PIN/Password, as transactions can be initiated by using OTP (One Time Password) authentication and showing any one of the valid OVDs (Officially Valid Document). You can do cash transactions, money transfer, bill payments, or cashless shopping using this card. In case of a lost or stolen QR card, the money will still be safe in your account as each transaction is authenticated through OTP and OVD validation. IPPB QR is easy to use.

Tien Phong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TPBank) is the first bank in Vietnam to allow cash withdrawals using a QR Code at both its ATMs and Livebank service without needing a card. To use the function, customers need to download QuickPay for iPhone or Android phones, and then connect their bank account to QuickPay. Cash withdrawals by QR Code provide safety, speed and convenience to customers. In addition to cash withdrawals, the bank’s QR Code could be also used for payment at thousands of shops or vending machines nationwide.

In a first for Jamaica, Texaco will be offering its customers and fleet operators a digital refuelling solution, with payment channels linked to the two largest banks, National Commercial Bank and Scotiabank Jamaica, through Amber Fuel’s multichannel system.

The Amber Fuels technology that Texaco is deploying at its stations works with the latest radio frequency identification, or RFID, technology that interfaces with the banking platforms through a mobile application. Texaco will issue free RFID stickers to customers at its stations. The sticker, which will serve as a unique identifier for individual vehicles and owner, is to be mounted on the autos.

To participate in the RFID system, customers are required to download the GB Fuels app and upload their payment details, which will be encrypted on the banking platforms.

Russian mobile operator MTS has joined forces with MTS Bank and MasterCard to introduce a virtual credit card dubbed MTS Credit Online in Russia.

With the new card, which is said to be the first of its type in the country, users can make purchases online. They can also use the card to make payments in retail outlets through smartphones. The card can by availed by customers having pre-approved personal credit limit from MTS Bank.

The launch of ‘American Express Go’, a virtual card solution that helps companies manage the limited and occasional business and travel expenses of contract employees, recruits and permanent staff who are infrequent travelers and not typically issued corporate cards.

American Express Go features a Virtual Card that can be used online or over the phone and has the option for the virtual numbers to be printed on companion plastic Cards for in-person payments everywhere American Express is accepted.

JCB International, Co., Ltd. (JCBI), the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co., announced a new partnership with WEX Inc. (NYSE:WEX), an industry-leading global provider of corporate payments solutions, to enable WEX virtual payments technology in Japan. The agreement makes WEX the first B to B issuer of JCB’s virtual cards and enables new functionality on the JCB network. The program will launch in the second half of 2019.

EMIRATE NBD has announced that its debit and credit card customers can now pay via Google Pay. As contactless payments gain popularity in the UAE, the bank, a front-runner in banking and payments technology, has taken the lead in supporting new, easy and accessible ways to pay. Google Pay enables users to make quick and secure payments via their Android devices, wherever contactless payments are accepted.

To make purchases, customers will need to add their Emirates NBD Visa and MasterCard credit and debit cards to Google Pay. Google Pay uses NFC to transmit card information thus replacing the need for authentication via chip and pin. Users can load their card details directly to their Google Pay wallet, making it a safer and more convenient transaction method.

Capital One’s Virtual Assistant Eno Now Lets Cardholders Create Virtual Card Numbers in Their Browser. Designed to be a financially-savvy text buddy, Eno has many other useful features as well, such as enabling users to check their available credit and credit limit, pay bills, and now – by way of a desktop browser extension – use virtual card numbers for ecommerce purchases.

The above examples and initiatives themselves are the proof that technology is transforming the banking and financial sector very rapidly to make the customer experience at par with the customer’s demand, competition and technological evolution. From Cash to Cashless, Card to Cardless and Contact to Contactless, the digital banking is impacting the lives of humans and safe, secure, risk free transactions for the businesses.

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