Launching the UK’s first cardless cash service



Emergency Cash is the first in a series of digital breakthroughs that bring RBS’s ‘here for you’ storyscape to life. It’s exciting to see that lead to a Gold Lion in the mobile category.
The need
To help design a service, unlike any other available in the UK or Europe which enables customers to access cash via an ATM network without using their bank card.
What we did
Nile joined with RBS Group, SapientNitro, and Monetise Group to launch the ‘Emergency Cash’ service.
Recognising that today’s always-on consumers are more likely to remember their mobile phones than their wallets when leaving home, Emergency Cash delivers a unique 6 digit, time-sensitive code that can be used to withdraw money from ATMs across Britain. The code can be shared with friends or family via text, and provides an instant solution for both forgotten wallets and lost cards.
The outcome
In the five weeks after launch, more than 60,000 people used Emergency Cash to gain cardless access to cash.
Emergency Cash took the Gold award in the Mobile Services category at the 60th Annual Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. This is the most prestigious international advertising and creativity showcase that draws more than 34,000 entries from all over the world.
Emergency Cash has generated an overwhelming reception from customers and elevated RBS’s profile as a customer-focused innovator in a crowded marketplace.
Other times we’ve made a difference
Bringing bereavement into the 21st Century
We unpicked the entire UK bereavement process to identity the painpoints and problems worth solving. Co-designing solutions with highly specialised legal professionals we prototyped Exizent’s first digital product.
Turning ‘pub chat’ into an investable start-up
Incubating an eco start-up with little more than a mission and a spark of a concept, turning it into a business with an investable product.
Transformational customer service
Helping one of the UK’s largest commercial banks to transform their service model across all channels, designed with their customers at the core.