IYBank said Tuesday that it is planning to introduce a mobile cash card service that will allow clients to access its automated teller machines with their cell phones.
The service will allow personal identification numbers and other information stored on cash cards to be input into NTT DoCoMo Inc. 504i series mobile phones, which are equipped with a system that enables infrared-ray communications, according to the banking unit of retailer Ito-Yokado Co.
Customers with accounts at IYBank will enter the information into ATMs via the infrared rays from their cell phones, allowing them to withdraw or deposit funds into the account, transfer money or carry out a range of other ATM transactions.
IYBank said it is working out the details of the plan and hopes to begin the new service in the middle of 2003.
The bank currently operates 4,098 ATMs mainly at Ito-Yokado supermarkets and convenience stores of Seven-Eleven Japan Co., an Ito-Yokado subsidiary, in eight prefectures, including Tokyo and Osaka.
IYBank also said it is calling on financial institutions with which it has tieups to join the service, freeing customers from the need to carry several bank cards.
The bank also said that it may set up a service by which bills for public services, including utilities, are e-mailed to the user's cell phone, after which payment can be made via an ATM using the cell phone.