Get cash out using your phone, with RBS and Natwest

RBS and Natwest customers can now step confidently out the house without their bank card, smug in the knowledge that if needed, they can access their hard-won cash using their smart phones.

Using the RBS and Natwest mobile banking apps, folks who happen to entrust those particular institutions with their moolah can request a six-digit pin number, which is then entered at a cash machine, the BBC reports.

The service, creatively called GetCash, lets you request sums of up to £100 but will only work at certain holes in the wall -- namely the 8,000 RBS, Natwest or Tesco branded cash machines that pepper our fair nation.

The apps, which are available for iOS, Android and BlackBerry, require a password to access, which should make your bank account slightly safer if your phone is nicked or gets lost.

The service follows on the heels of Barclays Pingit, an app that lets you send cash to people using a smart phone app, and O2 wallet, which performs a similar function.

Samsung's Galaxy S3 is set up for mobile payments meanwhile, thanks to built-in NFC tech.

Using a smart phone to access your cash seems like a smart move to me -- after all most canny mobile owners have a lock screen set up on their mobiles, which means the contents are protected even if your phone is stolen. Services like Apple's Find My iPhone also make it possible to remotely wipe your mobile.

There's one massive hole in the service though -- what happens if your battery dies and you find yourself out and about with no cash and no card?