IdeaBank launches deposit box and cash machine on wheels

Tap your smartphone and you can order a pizza, a taxi or a dry cleaning collection straight to your front door. Now, a Polish bank is offering customers the ability to summon a car with a built-in deposit box and cash machine.

IdeaBank, a lender targeted at Poland's start-ups and entrepreneurs, will this week launch the world's first mobile, in-car deposit points and ATMs, offering small businesses a convenient way to manage their cash flow.

IdeaBank, mBank and other challengers to big-name lenders have made Poland one of the world's most innovative banking markets, promoting online-only accounts and touchless payments, particularly among young people. But in the country's bustling small business sector, cash is still king.

"If you are an entrepreneur, a small business . . . a lot of people will be paying you in cash," said Jaroslaw Augustyniak, chairman. "And so why come to the bank if the bank is coming to you?"

IdeaBank's modified electric BMW i3 cars come with deposit points built into the back seat. They are part of a fast-growing trend for companies to provide mobile, convenient versions of traditional services - the so-called "on-demand economy".

"We are part of that trend in business that can save you time," he told the Financial Times. "We do not spend a lot of money investing in bank branches. But we invest a lot in different mobile solutions."

Carmaker Volvo has demonstrated technology that allows delivery couriers to access your car to leave parcels or shopping inside while you are not present, while Google is part of a swath of technology firms trying to crack the complex but lucrative market in ultra-fast home delivery services.

Mr Augustyniak says almost 45 per cent of his account holders, the majority of whom are small business owners, only visit the bank's branches to pay in or withdraw cash, and 80 per cent do it themselves, adding hours of administration to their weekly tasks.

Poland has about 3m small businesses, and one-third rely solely on cash transactions to make payments to suppliers and receive income from customers, according to IdeaBank research.

Their 'Money Collection' application uses technology similar to that used by on-demand taxi services such as Uber to summon one of the cars to the customer's location, where cash can then be deposited or withdrawn.

The bank will start with four cars and scale up to 40 nationally, at a cost of about 8m zlotys ($2.1m).

For safety, the cars will be driven by security guards, are GPS tracked and have cash-destruction mechanisms built into them.

While acknowledging that the mobile deposit points could become less useful as the importance of cash decreases, IdeaBank said one of the ideas behind the initiative was to accelerate that process and encourage small businesses to use electronic payments more often.

"Given the ability to access a deposit ATM at a place of their choice, our clients would be more keen on account deposits, instead of keeping cash at home," said Mr Augustyniak. "Next to the safety and convenience of the service, recording their deposits will also increase their credit score."

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