Wells Fargo to open up iPhone-based ATM withdrawals next week, no Apple Pay yet
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.
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.
Comments
Last year I drove to Home Depot during a blizzard to get some critical supplies and found that when I went to check-out that I had forgotten my wallet. At least at the time, they didn't take Apple Pay. After a round trip back to Home Depot in white out conditions, I noticed that they accept Pay Pal. So I could have checked out via my phone after all. Too bad the cashier couldn't have suggested that! So, I agree with you 100%. The day I can leave my wallet at home without any inconvenience will be a great day. I suppose we'll need a virtual driver's license app first. I'm not holding my breath.
Until Apple Pay is ubiquitous at ATMs, it's still necessary to carry a wallet all the time, IMO, and even when they are everywhere, most people will still need to carry their license and registration all the time, unless they live in a walking city and don't drive. At the retailers where I use Apple Pay, since I still have to sign the terminal and if I use a debit card, I still have to enter a PIN (and in some cases, also answer if I want cash and if the amount is correct), using Apple Pay is no faster and frequently slower than swiping a card. I was in a Bed, Bath & Beyond yesterday and asked the cashier (who seemed to know what she was doing) if they took Apple Pay. She didn't know - she said, "try it". It didn't work. This still has a long way to go. At best, I'm able to carry a thinner wallet than I used to. I've photographed all my membership cards and have them on my iPhone. I do wish there was a way to get them out of the photo library and into the wallet app.
Here's a demo (visual but in Spanish):
If you want to pay in 110€ but only have three 50€ notes, the ATM will even return the 40€.
My bank does this with their iOS app, except it's only a 6 digit code. And still they're bitching over Apple Pay.
It's also handy if you're worried about people inserting skimmers in ATMs, since there's nothing to skim, just a one-time code, which is only useful to withdraw the exact amount chosen.
As others have mentioned, ApplePay has nothing to do with this but TouchID has everything to do with a much improved version. TouchID is already allowed within third-party apps, including ApplePay's use of the WF credit card, so why can't WF simply extend their TouchID-based iOS app to include ATM withdrawals. The current WF app has to have some way of communicating with WF's security infrastructure at a WF ATM (doubt this would work on other ATMs), simply using the existing WF add with TouchID and a simple ATM withdrawal menu, would make it very secure. Of course this won't work with non-iPhones but I really don't care about the others.
Somehow, I stumbled on an app in the App Store that a) allowed you to securely place documents and images in a 'folder' and b) once in the folder, prohibited leaving that folder without a code.
The idea was to allow you hand your phone over to grandma, wife, girlfriend, priest, etc., so they could see pics you wanted to show, without them rummaging through your albums. By extension you could hand over your DL, insurance card, and reg without worrying about someone swiping through your other data. It reminded me of a display or kiosk mode.
I don't know if it would have worked against the reported data suckers that some police allegedly used on phone with and without pc.
Anyway, once I realized the app would work for that info, I went looking for it and no joy. Couldn't remember the name or find anything that fit my description.
Well I don't think it's true that "anyone gaining access to the phone" will be able to get cash, unless they enter the account password, or perhaps a successful TouchID swipe within the bank's app. This is no worse than banking apps already are - you can wire money out of an account today.