The conundrum of digitally sending money to someone in need of ready cash from an ATM has been one particular aspect of mobile cash access that some have sought to answer. One form of innovation is combining existing components in a new way. At the recent Finovate event in NYC, MasterCard demonstrated the cardless cash access solution in has in testing. The situations in day-to-day life where such a need arise are not few: A child that forgot to bring money for lunch at some trip, paying a bay-sitter when the rest of the evening was taken care of with cash, and so on. The interesting aspect of this solution, as with other mobile cash access solutions, is the assumption of near ubiquity of access by consumers to a personal mobile phone.
The service allows users, including as individuals or companies, to send money to anyone via a text message, providing the recipient with an order number and PIN that they can then use to retrieve the cash at an ATM without using a card.
Mercator Advisory Group anticipates the applications of MasterCard Cardless Cash Pick-Up will find fallow ground with businesses seeking to issue rebates to consumers. Partnering the Cardless Cash Pick-up solution with providers of in-store ATMs in retail locations and adding an e-coupon would help to encourage repeat business and brand affinity. Enabling cash access of digital funds to the underbanked and unbanked is no small aspect of this solution. Similar types of solutions have been in active use in other countries with degrees of success. M-Pesa in Kenya is one such example of SMS-enabled monetary exchange system that has helped to bring greater levels of digital exchange of funds to those that are “unbanked”.
Overview by Joseph Walent, Associate Director, Customer Interactions Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
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