Though it may not be related to mobile marketing, yet, a new concept has emerged that allows consumers to pull money out of an ATM using their cell phone, and have the balance added to their monthly wireless statement. Mobile payments are growing into big business, and this is by far one of the coolest concepts to come out of it thus far.
A company called Sicap is hard at work perfecting the technology and has even begun implementing it across Africa. Their solution involves specially designed ATMs that allows you to charge a cash withdrawal to your monthly wireless bill- in essence completely bypassing your bank account all together. The solution works even if you have no bank account at all.
When you need money out of the ATM, the solution allows you to simply text in the amount you want to your wireless carrier and instantly receive a one-time code that you input into the ATM. Once the code is verified, the ATM spits out your cash and the amount is billed to your monthly statement. Pretty cool stuff. It also works for sending money to other people- simply send them the code which they can then input into any ATM and receive an instant cash-injection.
While its only a small piece to the much larger mobile commerce/payment puzzle, it’s an awesome innovation that will undoubtedly make itself known worldwide at some point- though I don’t know how carriers will feel once they have to become bill collectors.
