The following article notes further entrants into the marketplace allowing individuals to use their phones in lieu of cards at the ATM. Although not really a threat to old-fashion plastic, the capability is slowly picking up momentum.
“Earlier this year Wintrust Financial, a holding company for 15 banks, became the first U.S. financial institution to make available technology that permits people to authenticate ATM transactions with their smartphone, instead of a plastic card. The technology, powered by FIS, a banking and payment company, has also been rolled out by BMO Harris.”
The article correctly muses about security issues that will need to be tackled. Right now, phone initiated ATM transactions do not appear to present a real source of new fraud. With time, as usage creeps up, the access to cash may become too enticing for fraudsters to pass up.
“But that’s not to say there are no downsides. “As banking activity of all sorts has gone mobile, hackers have followed and currently have the upper hand,” says Vince Arneja, vice president of product management at Arxan, a mobile app security company. “Most financial services apps have been hacked, and there is a growing trend in financial app hacking,” he says.
Overview by Sarah Grotta, Director, Debit Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Service
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