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CommBank expands "mobile wallet agenda" with Cardless Cash

Commonwealth Bank is expanding its mobile app with Cardless Cash, allowing customers to withdraw from a CommBank ATM without a card.

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Claire Reilly
2 min read

Commonwealth Bank (CBA) is advancing its "mobile wallet agenda" and expanding its digital offering with the launch of Cardless Cash — a service that will allow customers to withdraw cash from any CBA ATM, without a card.

(Credit: Commonwealth Bank)

Using the bank's new mobile app (launched in December 2013 for Android and January 2014 for iOS), CBA customers can choose the amount they want to withdraw from an ATM (up to $200 per day) — they'll be sent a code to enter into the ATM as well as a PIN that gives them instant access to the cash. Users can also elect to send the eight-digit code and the four-digit PIN to a third party (such as a family member) for fast cash in an emergency.

CBA will be the "first bank in Australia" to offer the technology when it rolls out next month according to Commonwealth Bank executive general manager of cards, payments, analytics and retail strategy, Angus Sullivan.

"It's a great functionality around advancing our mobile wallet agenda," said Sullivan. "This real-time capability is critical for us. You can see that customers are increasingly on their mobile phones all the time, they want to be able to transact in real-time with us, and the capability we've got from a technology perspective really bears that out now."

Announced today as part of a raft of initiatives in the digital payments space, Cardless Cash will roll out across CBA's entire network of more than 3,000 ATMs from next month as part of a staged software update. The service will be free and accessible through CBA's standard mobile banking app.

Following CBA's announcement, Westpac announced that it would be launching a similar service in July this year; however, card-free withdrawals will not be app-enabled at launch.

Westpac customers will be able to withdraw more cash in one hit compared to CBA customers — up to three withdrawals to the value of $1,000 per day, with a limit of $2,000 per week — though they will need to call the Westpac call centre to obtain their unique six-digit cash code for the withdrawal.

According to a Westpac spokesperson, the new technology will be available at all Westpac ATMs by July, and will roll-out to Westpac's mobile banking app shortly after.

This story was updated at 5:00pm AEST to include information on Westpac's card-free cash service.