The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das said on Friday, April 8, that the RBI has proposed to make cardless cash withdrawals available at all ATMs across banks. The service, according to Das, will be made available through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

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“At present, the facility of cardless cash withdrawal through ATMs is limited only to a few banks. It is now proposed to make cardless cash withdrawal available across all banks and ATM networks using the UPI,” Das said while making the announcement.

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“In addition to enhancing the ease of transactions, the absence of the need for physical cards for such transactions would help prevent fraud such as card skimming, card cloning, etc,” the RBI governor added.

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“In view of the transformation underway due to innovation, products and services, deepening of digital penetration, and the emergence of different service providers, it is proposed to set up a committee to examine and review the current state of customer service in all the RBI regulated entities,” he said during the RBI MPC meet announcement.

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Customers do not need to use their debit or credit cards to withdraw cash from ATMs if they use the cardless cash withdrawal service. The mechanism, which is currently available at a number of banks, was developed in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis when many people were hesitant to use ATMs.

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The cardholders of different banks, including SBI, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, and Bank of Baroda, can withdraw cash using their phones even if they do not have debit cards. The cardholder mostly has to use a mobile banking app and raise a request to withdraw cash at the ATM if they do not carry their debit card.

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According to experts, this method will reduce ATM fraud because it generates cash using a mobile PIN. The cardless cash withdrawal system employs the UPI facility to do the task. The remitter creates an IMT (Instant Money Transfer) that allows the transfer of funds to the recipient using only the beneficiary’s mobile number.

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Self-drawing of funds is possible using the cardless cash withdrawal facility. However, just a few banks now offer this service, and there is a daily transaction limit. This might range from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000, depending on the services provided by the bank. Customers are being charged an extra transaction fee by a few banks. More banks are expected to provide the service to their cardholders as a result of RBI’s latest statement.