Wells Fargo lets customers cash out rewards at ATMs

In an era when banks are investing heavily to enhance their mobile apps, they aren't neglecting a far older piece of technology: the automated teller machine.

Case in point: Wells Fargo announced today that its credit card customers can now use the lender's automated teller machines to redeem the points they earn in the form of cash. San Francisco-based Wells Fargo says it is the first major U.S. financial services provider to give customers that option.

Wells Fargo also announced today that its credit card holders who have accumulated rewards can use the lender's ATMs to apply those rewards to lower their Wells Fargo credit card balances or their balances on Wells Fargo loans, such as home-equity loans.

Photo courtesy of Wells Fargo

So why is Wells Fargo investing in putting more functions in its ATMs in the year 2015?

Because they remain popular with the lender's customers, Wells Fargo spokesman Kristopher Dahl told me.

Wells Fargo has roughly 12,500 ATMs, and customers are using them more and more, he said.

“We’ve seen growth in ATM usage year over year for, I think, five or six years if not longer. That’s both in number of transactions and the average transaction. We don’t think the popularity of ATMs is fading at all.”

Interesting fact: All of Wells Fargo's ATMs are in the U.S., with the exception of a handful in Antarctica, Dahl says.

But that's a story for another day.