HEADLESS: PrivatBank's Black Box ATM dispenses with a screen and keyboard, instead delegating display and input functions to the user's NFC phone

Ukraine-based PrivatBank has developed an ATM that uses NFC to "significantly reduce" product costs by eliminating the need to include a pin pad, screen and other user interface features.

"The contactless ATMs are cheaper than ordinary ATMs because we are removing half of the inside of the machine and thanks to the open software that we use," PrivatBank's Alexander Vityaz told NFC World. "We decided to design the machines to make it easier to demonstrate and explain why we need NFC technology."

The headless ATMs work in conjunction with the bank's Privat24 Android app, which is linked to customers' cards and account. To withdraw cash, they tap their NFC phone to the ATM and enter on their phone the amount they wish to withdraw along with their PIN.

"There is a smartphone with an NFC module inside the ATM," Vityaz explained. "The machine communicates with the consumer's smartphone via NFC, and in the first version we implemented MasterCard PayPass standards."

A working prototype of the Black Box ATM is currently in use at the bank's offices and the bank plans to put the new design into production during the first quarter of 2014.