ANZ looks to a smartphone future with new mobile wallet
For ANZ, the future of banking is clearly tied to smartphones, with the bank announcing a new mobile wallet for consumers, NFC-compatible ATMs in the pipeline and a mobile card reader for businesses.
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ANZ customers will soon be able to pay for their shopping at contactless terminals using a smartphone with the bank announcing the upcoming launch of the ANZ Mobile Wallet.
The service is due to launch in "early 2015" and follows a trial of the NFC-driven technology, which allows customers to securely transfer and store individual or multiple ANZ card details on their smartphone and then use those details to pay at contactless terminals.
According to ANZ Australia CEO Philip Chronican, the Mobile Wallet caters to a growing shift towards contactless payments across the country.
"Customers have openly embraced 'pay wave', with around 74 percent of all debit card transactions currently taking place using this technology," said Chronican. "This solution provides our customers with another convenient way to make purchases via their mobile device, wherever contactless cards are accepted."
The confirmation of the ANZ Mobile Wallet was part of a raft of announcements from the bank, including the rollout of new technology in its ATMs and the arrival of a mobile payments system for business customers.
Throughout 2015, ANZ will start pushing secure 'Tap & PIN' technology into its ATM network, allowing the ATMs to read card data without the customer having to insert their card. ANZ says the move is designed to curb financial losses due to card fraud, which it says costs the industry roughly AU$25 million a year.
"Counterfeit card fraud is a massive issue for the industry and law enforcement that causes significant inconvenience for customers," said Chronican. "ANZ's 'Tap & PIN' solution is a global first and will go a long way in the fight against card skimmers and to make banking safer and easier."
ANZ says the new technology will allow for deployment of NFC authentication at ATMs in the future, allowing customers to pre-program their mobile device with the amount of cash they want to withdraw before transacting at the ATM.
Finally, in the business space, ANZ also announced a new mobile payments card reader for ANZ FastPay. The device connects through the audio-jack port on an iOS or Android device and allows business customers to process credit or debit cards on a mobile device using secure PIN entry.