Nigeria:Interswitch unveils card-less ATM withdrawals

JAN 28, 2014.

PM NEWS.

One does not need a bank account or a Verve, Mastercard or Visa card to make withdrawals from an ATM any longer. All one needs is a 12-digit code and a 4-digit PIN. And thereafter you are on to your money.

Interswitch Transnational, a leading Pan-African integrated payments company, announced today that Nigerians will henceforth be able to make the card-less withdrawals from ATMs with Quickteller facility.

A statement from Interswitch said the card-less withdrawals will offer mobile money users the opportunity to withdraw cash from their mobile money accounts or “cash out” funds transferred to them, through Quickteller supported ATMs across the country.

“The service has been designed to specifically address the challenges of mobile money adoption which includes insufficient cash out locations thereby enabling those without bank accounts and bank cards have easier, more convenient and safer access to cash withdrawal,” it said.

Interswitch said the card-less service supports transactions between the range of N1,000.00 – N20,000.00 in multiples of N1,000.

The card-less ATM withdrawal service has been adopted by Pagatech, GTBank Mobile Money, Parkway, Cellulant and QikQik. This service is currently available at over 6,000 ATMs on the networks of First Bank, GTBank, Stanbic Bank, United Bank for Africa and Zenith Bank.

Mrs Titilola Shogaolu, Chief Payment and Value Added Services Officer, Interswitch Nigeria, said “the cardless ATM withdrawal service is one of those services where the infrastructure can be customized to Mobile Money Operators to fulfil bespoke business needs. We firmly believe that Nigerians everywhere, with or without a bank account, deserve to have access to contemporary payment technologies designed to simplify financial access. We are optimistic that more Mobile Money Operators will adopt the service by Q2, 2014. We are excited about the huge potential of this service and are glad that our infrastructure can be leveraged to deliver innovative services that will enable both individuals and corporate organizations achieve their goals.”