Roger Fingas
Following the end of a successful pilot project, Wells Fargo will be opening up smartphone-based withdrawals at all 13,000 of its U.S. ATMs on Monday, March 27 — though support for Apple Pay isn't yet on the horizon.
Instead people will have to use the Wells Fargo app to request a one-time, eight-digit code, which must be combined with a PIN, Reuters said. While not necessarily more efficient, the method will mean being able to withdraw cash without a debit card.
In theory it may also improve security, since customers won't risk encountering a card skimmer. State-of-the-art skimmers are difficult to spot and can steal data from a number of cards before banks and customers catch on.
CBS noted that phone-based withdrawals should become simpler later in 2017, when an update will eliminate the need for a code and only ask that people hold their phone up to a reader.
It's likely that Wells Fargo will eventually add ATM support for Apple Pay, given that it already supports the platform for payments and one of its main rivals — Bank of America — has been offering Apple Pay withdrawals since June 2016.
To date Bank of America's compatibility is still limited to "select" locations, which could give Wells Fargo a chance to catch up.
Charles Martin
Christine McKee
Oliver Haslam
William Gallagher
Sponsored Content
20 Comments
I've had this service for years with my bank. It's handy for when you realise you've left your card at home and you're at the checkout (happened once to me) or if family or friends need cash and you are not on hand to take it out of the machine.
ApplePay at ATMs would be a no-brainer for more secure withdrawals. Even better would be a debit card containing the funds securely locked away in the Wallet app, like a Bitcoin wallet.
so it's not "iphone based" at all, it's code/pin based and could theoretically be used on android/windows phone too if they have apps for this bank. several other banks already have this but you get the code over the phone or by text. write an article about it when they are NFC / apple-pay compatible, thats news. ;)
Anyone know if you can make deposits with this method as well or if it's withdraws only?