Chase Deploying Cardless ATMs

For Chase customers, going card-free soon won’t be a problem when needing to get cash from an ATM.

Instead, those customers can turn to their phones when needing to get cash or make any transaction at Chase ATMs, many of which will be slated for upgrade later this year to allow for cardless transactions. As a result of these new machines, the withdrawal limit will also be increased to up to $3,000 during hours that banks are open, Chase spokesman Michael Fusco told AP.

Customers can use the mobile service with a code on the mobile app, Fusco said. And past that, further upgrades will include the ability to use the NFC capability in smartphones that’s used for most mobile payments apps (e.g., Apple Pay and Samsung Pay) to access their accounts.

But going cardless, of course, doesn’t mean those customers can’t use their cards still at the ATMs. Chase is simply providing the option to go mobile.

Chase follows other banks, like BMO Harris, that have made this option possible in order to keep up with the changing times that have consumers relying more on mobile banking and ATMs over visiting actual bank tellers. In fact, Chase now has more transactions through ATMs than tellers. Still, Chase will continue to have tellers on hand near the upgraded machines available to assist customers during the transition period to get them used to the new technology.

Next for Chase’s tech overhaul? The ability for customers to cash checks and pay Chase credit card card bills and mortgages all from the ATM. Those plans are slated for the next two years, Chase indicated.

Chase’s earnings also showed a sign of the times when a portion of its profits was attributed to the bank’s efforts to cut costs and reduce staff (which it did by 14,000 people in Q4 alone). Since 2012, the bank has cut nearly 43,000 positions. Cutting costs has been easier to do on the workforce side since fewer and fewer consumers are stepping into banks, instead turning online and to mobile apps. JPMorgan’s mobile banking side continues to lead in the industry, with Q4’s figures showing Chase now has 23 million customers, which is a 20 percent increase from the year prior.