News in Brief

South Korea ATMs to be QR Code Enabled

The Bank of Korea is planning to introduce a QR code-based ATM deposit and withdrawal service this year. There is already a Near Field Communication (NFC) based service and 43% of South Korea’s 106,000 ATMs are NFC enabled. Mobile phones have a mobile cash card built into them.

When this service is in place, iPhone users will be able to make deposits and cash withdrawals, as well as Android users, and this function will be possible irrespective of whether the ATM belongs to the customers bank or not.

Cash Digitisation in the US

A recent US newspaper article suggests that some stores and restaurants are installing ‘reverse ATMs’ to allow people to change cash into stored-value cards. The suggestion is that this is a response to cities (New York, Washington DC, San Francisco and Philadelphia) and states (New Jersey, Colorado) which are passing laws requiring them to accept cash payments.