Commonwealth Bank Introduces Card-Free ATM Service

CBA customers will soon be able to collect cash from ATMs with a few clicks of their CommBank smartphone app. The ‘cardless’ cash service is the first in Australia and will be rolled out via a new app update in May. The app update will also introduce a new ‘Lock and Limit’ tool to help customers keep their card secure and rein in their spending.

The Commonwealth Bank’s Cardless Cash service does exactly what it says on the tin. Users can request cash via their smartphone and collect it from any CBA automatic teller machine without using their credit card at any point. This is something that several overseas banks have already introduced to customers, but until now the service hasn’t been offered in Australia.

To make CBA Cardless Cash withdrawals, customers select an amount from their account using their smartphone’s CommBank app. The user will then receive two unique numbers: an eight-digit Cash Code and a four-digit Cash PIN. Armed with these unique codes, the user can then grab their cash from more than 3000 CommBank ATMs around the country.

You can also authorise others to collect Cardless Cash on your behalf. This involves entering their first and last name into the app along with their mobile phone number. The app will then send the codes to your nominated contact, which will authorise them to collect the cash.

Somewhat disappointingly, Cardless Cash will be limited to one transaction per day. It is also capped at a maximum of $200. If you need more cash on any given day, you’ll need to revert to your plastic.

The Cardless Cash function will be accessible via the CommBank app’s side navigation as well as the inbuilt ATM finder and under ‘Pay Someone’ options list.

This is all well and good, but do cardless cash withdrawals actually provide more convenience? The process seems equally time-consuming — and then there are those restrictions. That said, we suppose the ability to authorise family members to collect cash could prove handy in some circumstances. It also eliminates the risk of skimming scams as no card is involved in the transaction. Plus, if you happen to lose your wallet the ability to quickly access cash will be a godsend.

In addition to Cardless Cash, CBA is also introducing a Lock and Limit feature for all CommBank credit card customers. This gives users the ability to control security and spending on their cards via four different settings.

Customers can opt to lock online international payments (i.e. — block transactions processed outside Australia), lock in-store international payments (i.e. — block all transactions made outside Australia where the card is physically present) lock ATM cash advances both domestically and overseas or set limits per transaction (i.e. — set a limit to control how much can be spent in one transaction down to a limit of $100.)

Like Cardless Cash, the Lock and Limit feature will be available to CommBank app users on Android and iPhone smartphones from May 2014.


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