There is an ongoing trend in banking, as in many other facets of society, towards faster delivery of services to customers who are increasingly time-strapped and on the move.
In the last few years, bank deposits via smartphone apps have been adopted by many of the largest banking companies. In the latest mobile banking development, Bank of America has launched cardless ATMs.
At the Google I/O conference in Mountain View, Calif., in May, Bank of America representatives announced plans to expand the cardless technology to 5,000 ATMs by year’s end, with a national rollout last month of 2,400 ATMs, including several machines in the Bridgeport, Norwalk and Stamford areas.
The company claims to be the first bank to expand the use of digital wallets stored on customer”™s smartphones to let them withdraw cash, make transfers and check balances on the cardless ATM. The launch of the service, which will allow customers to access their accounts by swiping their mobile phone in front of a scanning device on select ATMs, is a reflection of the ongoing shift to mobile services, according to Bank of America.
The bank said that 20 million customers actively use its mobile banking app. During the first quarter of 2016, the number of new Bank of America accounts opened through mobile devices increased by 50 percent year-over-year.
