Rinchi
TechInAfrica – First National Bank (FNB) is one of the biggest banks in South Africa and the first bank to adopt contactless ‘Tap and Pin’ ATM cards in its service. Through the innovation, customers are able to tap their ATM card on a contactless reader on FNB ATMs then enter pin to complete transactions. Reducing the need to insert ATM cards into the ATM machine, making the process quicker and more efficient. This technology is applied to 100 FNB ATMs and will be further upgraded again next year.
FNB explained that this new technology will reduce 20 seconds of time spent on ATM transactions. Moreover, protecting customers as they don’t have to insert their ATM card to a machine to perform transactions.
The CEO of FNB retail, Raj Makanjee explained that innovation is a big step for the bank to improve their service to customers, especially in convenience and safety. By adding contactless ‘tap and pin’ ATM cards, FNB tried to align interactions with customers need.
“In the last three years, consumers have processed approximately 1 billion Rand worth of contactless payments from 5 million transactions on FNB issued Credit and Debit Cards alone. The frequency of use by consumers has grown by between 100 percent and 300 percent on our credit and debit cards respectively, highlighting the confidence of our customers in adopting new and secure payment methods,” said Makanjee.
The innovation is highly welcomed by FNB customers as it has was introduced and issued three years ago. Ever since, customers have used more than 8.5 million contactless-enabled debit and credit cards.
In a day, FNB users pay at least 700 contactless transactions on average. Meanwhile, on FitBit Pay and Garmin Pay processed 1.5 million worth contactless transactions within the last two months, showing the demand for the new technology.
