29 May 2023
Harnessing the power of world-class technologies to facilitate a seamless banking experience for its customers, Absa has launched card tap-and-go capabilities at its ATMs in South Africa.
The capability is expected to reduce transaction time at the ATM by up to 12 seconds on average and potentially deter incidents of card theft at ATMs, which is an industry wide trend. Further to this, the capability may assist to diminish incidences of card retention during ATM hardware or power failures and card jamming.
“The enhancement of our customer experience and customer safety when transacting at our facilities or using our devices is a top priority for us. We are excited to be launching this option to the benefit of our customers. One cannot underestimate the difference a saving of a few seconds makes at the ATM,” said Tshiwela Mhlantla, Managing Executive: Physical Channels, Absa Everyday Banking.
To activate the capability, customers simply tap their Absa bank cards, which are enabled with Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, on the corresponding card reader to unlock their ATM profile. Customers will be able to easily identify the familiar logo indicating the tap function. While it is not necessary to insert a bank card, customers are still required to punch in their PIN as added safety protocol.
“Importantly, the card does not leave the customer’s hand. We have commenced with the activation of this technology and aim to cover 900 ATMs this year. We expect to expand the distribution of the technology more widely in the near future,” said Mhlantla.
Currently, the bulk of the tap and go-enabled ATMs are located in Gauteng and the Western Cape where initial usage is expected to be higher, with a moderate distribution across other provinces countrywide.
Large scale rollout of UPS devices to ATMs to combat impact of loadshedding
“ATMs are increasingly strategic to our commitment of delivering access to banking services, particularly those that a customer can perform independently such as credit card limit increases, bank confirmation downloads, payments, and the purchase of prepaid amenities among many others. With the migration of some services to ATMs, we are realigning our in-branch capabilities and building capacity for contemporary trends as we continue to gear up our branch network to be future-fit,” Mhlantla said.
“To this end, we are also excited to confirm our proactive rollout of solar-ready uninterrupted power supply (UPS) devices that offer an average uptime of 12 hours to Absa ATMs in remote and urban areas, on a large scale, to ensure that customers can still enjoy access to our ATM services during loadshedding and general power failures.”
