Johannesburg, South Africa: Absa Bank
cardholders can send funds across the country to friends and relatives,
and they can withdraw the cash from the nearest Absa ATM.
Absa Bank, which is based in Johannesburg, South Africa, recently launched
Cash Send. The service enables bank customers to send money from their
mobile phones or their online banking accounts. The person receiving the
funds first must type into the ATM a 10-digit code, or a reference number,
they receive from the sender via SMS-text messaging.
After doing this, the receiver types in a six-digit access code and the
exact amount of cash he or she expects to receive. The sender provides the
access code. Absa does not charge a fee for the cash withdrawals, and the
receiver does not have to be a bank customer. The receiver, however, must
withdraw the funds from one of Absa’s 5,000 ATMs deployed nationwide.
“CashSend allows Absa customers to transfer cash from their own checking
or savings account to anyone around the country,” says Absa official.
Absa, which is part of Barclays Bank PLC, is one of South Africa’s largest
retail banks with 800 branch locations, according to an August 2009 study
by the FranklinCovey Centre for Advanced Research in Salt Lake City.
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