How long until credit and debit cards are truly a thing of the past? I can’t tell you the number of times (okay, probably only like twice) I had forgotten a card at home, but was thankfully able to get coffee, lunch, or a ride home simply by having my phone.
Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Wallet, etc., have completely revolutionized how we pay for things. It’s clear that things aren’t going backwards any time soon, and the next step in this progression is upon us.
Engineers at both Bank of America and Wells Fargo have been putting in long hours to finally bring Apple Pay to ATMs. According to reports from Wired and TechCrunch, these banks have been working on configuring out NFC-equipped ATMs for quite some time and are finally ready to roll them out. Chase isn’t far behind with plans to role out similar ATMs later this year.
While this seems like the next natural step in making the debit card obsolete, Chase spokesman Michael Fusco argued against that. As he told Wired:
“This doesn’t replace the debit card. It’s just giving customers a more convenient choice in case they don’t have their debit card on them,” Chase spokesman Michael Fusco toldWired. Although the next phase in Chase’s plan may very well replace the physical card. Chase says it will rollout NFC-equipped ATMs later this year, that will let you access your ATM likely in the same way you access your credit cards on Apple Pay and Android Pay.”
There’s also a large part of the population that doesn’t – and likely never will – trust their smartphone for making payments (I’m looking at you, mom, who just last month allowed me to send you money over Paypal for the first time). But what they don’t understand is that the adoption of contactless ATMs by major banks will actually help to cut down on card skimming and fraud. It’s a lot harder to figure out the encryption on mobile payment services than it is to skim a card.
