Payments

Why Cross River Bank and Mastercard are collaborating on cardless ATM access

  • A partnership between Cross River Bank and Mastercard brings cardless ATM access to people, whether they can't access their physical debit cards or they're part of the 20 percent of U.S. citizens that are underbanked
  • Mobile is more than just a channel, it’s the thing that’s guiding both financial incumbents and consumers alike through the shift from physical to digital banking
close

Email a Friend

Why Cross River Bank and Mastercard are collaborating on cardless ATM access
Thanks to a partnership between a bank and a card issuer, consumers can now receive cash at ATMs — even if they don't have a bank account or debit card. Cross River Bank, the bank of fintech startups, is working with Mastercard to give consumers cardless access to ATMs through an offering called Mastercard Cash Pick-Up. It allows businesses or individuals to send cash payments by logging in to the Cash Pick-Up platform via their bank’s website or mobile app and entering the necessary transaction and recipient. When they’ve done that, recipients receive a text message with the order number, PIN and a link that helps them locate a participating ATM nearby. The offering highlights the role of mobile phones in banking’s new normal — mobile is more than just a channel, it’s the thing that’s guiding both financial incumbents and consumers alike through  the shift from physical to digital banking, which still hasn't been fully realized. In New York, Citi is testing the ability for customers to open ATM vestibules with their phones; Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase customers can retrieve cash from ATMs using codes generated on their phones. These are just the earliest examples. "The key to business-to-consumer payments is the information you have about the person you are paying,” said Ben Isaacson, the bank’s svp and general manager for payments. “If the person gives their bank account number, you can send an ACH. If they don't, you can’t… Today we offer payment services based on bank account numbers and debit card numbers. Now, with Cash Pick-Up, we can also offer payment services based on the mobile phone number.” For now, Mastercard Cash Pick-Up is only available at enabled ATMs in the U.S., where the postal service plays far too big a role in payments, particularly low dollar disbursements, Isaacson said. When businesses send customers rebates or refund, for example, they often have to do so by mail, sending checks or prepaid cards to physical addresses if the customer doesn't have a bank account number or debit card number. It's expensive and cumbersome for businesses and inconvenient for consumers, Isaacson said. The offering will help merchant banks and ATM operators grow revenue through new transactions volumes. Cross River Bank is a big fintech player that operates backstage for the most part. It counts Affirm, Marlette and Rocket Loans as customers. It has also developed payments solutions for TransferWise and the bitcoin wallet Coinbase, as well as Google Wallet and Stripe in the past. For card issuing banks, the offering is an opportunity to increase their footprint with corporate customers, better serve their own cardholders and indirectly serve underbanked consumers without pushing its own products on them. It also reinforces the value for banks of having a physical presence, whether it's a branch or an ATM machine, as an important point of contact for banks and their customers. Despite the slow but certain growth of mobile payments, most of the world still operates in cash and 20 percent of U.S. consumers are excluded from the formal financial system. “The challenge — and opportunity — is to make that customer connection across the channels,” Jose Resendiz, general manager for global financial services at ATM producer NCR, told Tearsheet earlier this year. “Cash will still be around quite a while, people will still be able to go to physical channels, but more and more, people continue to adopt digital payment methods and experiences.”

0 comments on “Why Cross River Bank and Mastercard are collaborating on cardless ATM access”

Payments

5 trends that left an imprint on the payments landscape this year

  • With the conclusion of the year on the horizon, we reflect on the key trends that have left an impact on the payments landscape throughout 2023.
  • Tearsheet engaged with a broad spectrum of experts in the payments industry, who shared their insights on the overarching themes that have defined this year.
Sara Khairi | December 01, 2023
Payments

How Government-to-Person payments can address the 5.9 million big unbanked problem in America

  • As of 2021, around 6 million Americans were unbanked and this problem disproportionately affects Black and Hispanic households, of which 10% have no checking or savings account.
  • Government-to-Person (G2P) payments may be a way to bring unbanked communities into the fold in a way that counters lack of trust and incentivizes participation.
Rabab Ahsan | November 30, 2023
Payments

Instant options are becoming the top pick for ad hoc payments

  • In catering to pressing enterprise needs, ad hoc payments may complicate companies' routine invoicing and payroll processes, introducing interruptions.
  • However, a spike in senders embracing instant payments in ad hoc transactions indicates that a shift toward speedier and more responsive payments is likely underway.
Sara Khairi | November 27, 2023
Payments

Is Pay by Bank on the verge of becoming a consumer favorite? Adyen and Plaid’s collaboration echoes a ‘yes’

  • Adyen has taken another step forward with its alliance with Plaid, connecting a sequence of moves aimed at gaining traction in the US market.
  • The new alliance can be a way to remedy the shortfall in both Adyen's stock value, which dropped about 39% since the start of the year.
Sara Khairi | November 22, 2023
Payments

The Rock and Acorns have released a new debit card

  • Acorns and Dwayne The Rock Johnson have teamed up to create the Mighty Oak debit card.
  • The debit card's marketing campaign is pulling out all the stops and is using The Rock's celebrity, the holiday season, and talk show appearances to stand out.
Rabab Ahsan | November 17, 2023
More Articles