The Cardless ATM withdrawal in Nigeria, introduced sometime in April 2014, has been adopted by some Nigerian banks; but this service is yet to get the attention of many bank customers.
The awareness is sluggishly growing among Nigerian bank customers. But the question is – are the banks doing enough in creating the awareness among their customers? Investigation shows that most bank ATMs have the service installed but they are not being used.
If you are unfortunate enough to have your debit card stolen, you lose your card or simply forget to bring it with you, and you need cash, here are tips from pocketsense.com and wellkeptwallet.com to withdraw money from an Automated Teller Machine without a card.
Ask the teller for help
Go inside the bank and explain to the teller that you do not have your ATM card on hand. The teller has the ability to look up your account information, and may ask for your state issued driver’s licence or identity card according to bank policy. You will need to fill out a withdrawal slip, the amount of money you want and sign your name. The teller can then withdraw the money from your account and complete the transaction.
Write a cheque payable to cash
If you have your chequebook, writing a cheque made out to cash will get you cash without an ATM card. Give your cheque to the bank teller or to a cashier at any of your bank’s branch and receive your funds in return. The safest bet is to present the cheque at your bank, as the cheque will be readily accepted. When visiting a retail store or bank where you do not have accounts, call ahead to see if they will accept a cheque from you made payable to cash. A cheque made out to cash is unsecure. This means, the cheque gets lost, the finder can receive the money unless you stop payment on the check first. Because of that risk, do not write out the cheque until arriving at the bank or retailer.
Access emergency cash service
Some banks offer a convenient emergency cash service. To use this benefit, contact your bank and report your card lost or stolen. You will be given an emergency code number to key into the ATM, enabling you to withdraw cash without using a card. Use this service only if your card is truly lost or stolen as your ATM card will be deactivated, forcing you to apply for a new card and wait for its arrival. The bank will then issue you a new one by mail.
Use a smartphone
A mobile cash withdrawal feature for your smartphone eliminates the need for an ATM card. To get this feature, you will need to first register with your bank. The registration can be done at the bank branch or through the bank’s Internet banking service. Once registered, download the mobile banking app to your smartphone. The app allows you to set up a withdrawal and then electronically transmits a 2D bar code to your smartphone. Upon arrival at the ATM, scan the bar code for authorisation to withdraw cash from your account.
Use your bank’s cardless ATM
Some banks now offer cardless ATM usage to make it more digitally safe for customers to pull out money. Since hackers are able to steal customers’ ATM card numbers, banks are using this technology to cut down on fraud on ATM machines.
The banks claim this is a safer way to pull out money from the ATM, since it will require more digital security measures, such as scanning a barcode at the ATM machine for authorisation to withdraw cash from your account.
It is also convenient for customers who do not want to carry an ATM card.
Use USSD banking
Apart from turning to apps to send money to someone, who may be able to withdraw the money for you, you can also make use of the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data. You can easily send money to your friends and have them pull it out in cash for you.
