Wells Fargo & Company announced in a press release today that over 40% of its ATMs now support NFC (Near Field Communication)-enabled mobile wallets, and that the company plans to extend these capabilities to the rest of its approximately 13,000 ATMs by 2019.
In the release, Wells Fargo's Head of Virtual Channels Jim Smith noted the company's focus on the increasing importance of convenient card-free pay:
According to Forrester, by 2021, mobile payments volume in the U.S. will triple. Our customers are increasingly using mobile to manage their finances and make payments, which makes it ever important for Wells Fargo to provide our more than 20 million mobile banking and mobile wallet customers with a seamless mobile authentication and access experience at our ATMs, online, and in our branches.
Wells Fargo already made headway on the cardless pay front earlier this year when it launched one-time access code technology that allowed customers to access ATMs by using a one-time code generated with the Wells Fargo mobile banking app. Now however, customers can initiate an ATM transaction by simply opening Apple Pay (or another mobile wallet app), holding their phone near an NFC-enabled ATM terminal and inputting their PIN. If you're wondering if your local Wells Fargo ATM has added this feature, just look for a decal with the contactless pay symbol on the front of the machine.
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