On Thursday, another big Bank, First Union (which has branches on the
eastern seaboard) committed to the  talking ATM access solution.  It has
agreed to install about 100 machines with a national agreement to be
negotiated later.  On the same day, Bank of America committed to making
7,000 of its talking ATM locations accessible with talking ATMs.  This
accounts for about 85 percent of the bank's ATM locations.  The
deployment will be in all regions of the country and will occur through
2005.  Negotiations will occur later regarding the remaining locations.
Below is an article about the announcement.

Kelly


The charlotte Observer

Published Friday, October 5, 2001

ATMs that talk to be installed


WORKS VIA HEADSET


BofA and First Union adding thousands for the visually impaired

By SARAH LUNDAY

First Union said it is installing more than 100 talking ATMs during the
next nine months in six states, including North Carolina.

The move is part of a national trend of banks establishing audio-assisted
machines for blind and low-vision users.

Bank of America also said Thursday it plans to install more than 7,000
talking machines nationwide - with 3,000 of those being in place by the
end of 2002.

The machines have audio jacks that deliver instructions via headset to
protect the security and privacy of disabled users.

First Union already has two such machines in Charlotte - at 301 S. Tryon
St. and 1525 W.T. Harris Blvd. - that may be used by anyone with a
standard headset.
Its new devices will be available only at First Union ATMs, and not
machines of Wachovia, which merged with First Union in September. The
installation
of the audio-assisted ATMs was begun at First Union before the merger,
said spokeswoman Sarah Holden. The new company is changing its name to
Wachovia.

Bank of America has 500 talking ATMs in Florida and California. It plans
to have the voice guidance machines in the Carolinas in 2002.

"There is a segment of our customer base that this really meets a need fo
r; it's as simple as that," said Brad Russell, spokesman for Bank of
America.

Fees for the ATM machines will not be increased, spokespersons for the
companies said. Bank of America has 13,000 ATMs nationwide; the combined
First Union-Wachovia
has 4,800 on the East Coast.

California was the first state to have the talking ATMs after advocacy
groups filed lawsuits in 1999 against banks, claiming inadequate customer
service.
Early cases involved Bank of America and Wells Fargo & Co. among others.