from ATMmarketplace.com

Raymond warns time is running out to act on ADA

by Rick Redding * 05 October 2001 NEW ORLEANS - Bill Raymond
sounded a wakeup call at his crack-of-dawn keynote address to
about 200 ATM industry executives at the Sixth Annual ATM
Conference, warning those responsible for ATM fleets that the day
of reckoning for compliance with ADA guidelines is probably less
than a year away. "There is not a business case for voice
guidance at the ATM based on transaction volume that would
justify the expense," said Raymond, senior vice president and
manager, ATM management and development for Bank of America. "The
important thing to remember is that it doesn't matter. You have
to do it anyway." Raymond, who came to New Orleans directly from
an Oct. 2 meeting organized by the American Bankers Association
with blind advocacy members, laid out a schedule of expected
events during the next few months that will provide bankers and
ATM deployers with a last chance to be heard before a new set of
federal laws are put it into effect by the Department of Justice.
It was the second such meeting organized by the ABA. He said the
industry's opportunity to comment on the new rules would come
early next year, after the federal Access Board issues its
recommendations for new standards. From there, the proposed
standards are passed on to the Office of Management and Budget,
and then to the Department of Justice. At that time, probably in
the second quarter, members of the ATM industry will have an
opportunity to comment on the proposal before it becomes law. He
advised banking leaders who haven't yet formulated a policy on
updating their fleets to do so immediately. "If you don't have a
program, do it next week. We need to speak with one voice," he
said. B of A commits to Talking ATMs Bank of America, along with
Wells Fargo, Fleet and First Union, have led the charge among
financial institutions in converting their ATM fleets to talking
ATMs, and have worked with blind advocacy groups for more than a
year. In fact, Bank of America has already committed to convert
2,500 ATMs in Florida and California. During his keynote address,
entitled "Taking ATMS, the ADA and Your Bank," Raymond announced
a massive expansion of that commitment. He said that more than
7,000 talking ATMs, in all geographic areas served by the bank,
would be converted during the next four years. In a subsequent
interview with ATMmarketplace, Raymond said the first locations
targeted for conversions to talking ATMs are in Georgia, North
Carolina, Texas and Iowa. It is in those states, he said, that
the blind community has been most vocal in seeking accessibility.
"It's the right thing to do. It's the mental equivalent of curb
cuts to the wheelchair community," he said. Jim D'Aprile, vice
president, self-service/ATM banking for Fleet Bank and chairman
of the conference, agreed that the issue is one that can't be
ignored. Neither D'Aprile or Raymond would reveal their overall
budget for making the conversions, but both said the actual work
involved was expensive, with the price tag as high as $4,000 per
machine. Raymond said that figure doesn't include $500,000 in
one-time development costs. Fleet has committed to convert more
than 1,600 machines, with most of the physical work being done by
manufacturers NCR and Diebold. When asked how he justifies the
cost, D'Aprile said there was little choice. "You just have to do
it. There's not a business case, it's something we have to do."
The expense is especially difficult for banks to swallow given
the early results from Talking ATMs in place. Raymond said that
in Bank of America's fleet of 500 talking ATMs in Florida and
California, the machines are performing an average of less than
two transactions per month. He said the issue is one of education
and outreach. "We can do better than that," he said. "We're
trying to re-educate a population that doesn't have this
technology, and that takes time." Raymond told his ATM audience
that it was crucial for banks to provide outreach programs to
educate the public, and showed a popular television commercial
Bank of America aired this year to educate the blind community on
its programs. Consequences Kurt Helwig, executive director of the
Electronic Funds Transfer Association, was the last of eight
speakers in an information-packed agenda. His organization hosted
a conference, "New ADA Challenges to the ATM Industry," in June.
Helwig said time is running out for deployers to get their plans
in place. "There will probably be a year or two to be compliant,"
he said. "Anyone who owns, deploys or does processing needs to be
informed and aware, because it's happening. People need to pay
attention." Both Helwig and Raymond spoke of a business landscape
in which deployers who don't comply with the new regulations,
once passed by the Department of Justice, could become targets of
lawsuits that could be filed by individuals or organizations. "I
don't want to give lawyers any ideas," Raymond joked, "but there
could be lots of exposure once the law is passed."