This article was published in both the Los Angeles times and the San Jose
mercury news, which placed it on page one.  the LA Times placed it
prominently as well.  San Jose is California's second largest city and is
the center of the tech savvy silicon valley.

kelly

   Published Thursday, June 24, 1999, in the San Jose Mercury News

Bank to offer talking ATMs

   Wells Fargo accord will help the blind

   BY MAURA DOLAN
   Los Angeles Times

   SAN FRANCISCO -- Wells Fargo & Co. has agreed to provide talking ATMs
   in California following more than three years of negotiations with
   lawyers for the blind -- the first time a U.S. bank has agreed to take
   such a step.

   Wells Fargo, the second-largest bank in California, is among those
   that already provide Braille on ATMs. But only about 15 percent of the
   blind can read Braille, and those who do say it still does not allow
   them to interact with the machines.

   Coming just a day after the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed a federal
   disabilities rights law, the settlement is a reminder of the
   continuing power of both the federal law and state statutes to protect
   the disabled.

   Under the out-of-court settlement unveiled Wednesday with the
   California Council of the Blind, Wells Fargo will install 20 talking
   ATMs with earphones next year in Los Angeles and San Diego counties
   and the Bay Area. The locations for the first wave of machines has not
   yet been determined, a spokeswoman said.

   The settlement calls for talking machines at all of Wells Fargo's
   1,500 California locations by the year 2003. Lawyers for the blind
   believe other banks will follow.

   ``This should really be the beginning of a wave,'' said Oakland lawyer
   Linda Dardarian, who represented four blind Wells Fargo customers and
   the California Council.

   Bank of America spokeswoman Ann DeFabio said it, too, will begin a
   pilot program of talking ATMs next year. The bank has not yet decided
   where to test the machines or how many to test, she said.

   Wells Fargo's talking machines, which are still in development, will
   give voice instruction through headphones on how to deposit money,
   withdraw cash, transfer funds and buy stamps. There will be one
   talking machine at all ATM sites, and customers will be able to choose
   whether to read or listen.

   First such U.S. plan

   Dardarian and a Wells Fargo spokesman said the settlement is the first
   such U.S. plan to be announced. A lawsuit to force a bank in
   Pennsylvania to install voice-equipped automatic teller machines is
   pending in federal court. Royal Bank of Canada has deployed such a
   machine.

   Larry Haeg, a Wells Fargo spokesman, refused for ``competitive
   reasons'' to disclose the cost of providing talking ATMs. If the
   machines succeed in California, the company will offer them to other
   regions around the nation, he said.

   Kathy Martinez, 40, one of the blind plaintiffs in the case, said she
   has long been frustrated by being unable to use ATMs by herself. Blind
   since birth, Martinez reads Braille but says that only allows her to
   obtain a small amount of ``quick cash.''

   At times she has even resorted to asking strangers to help her at the
   cash machines, she said.

   ``It is scary,'' she said. ``I do it as little as possible, but if I
   don't have a stranger do it, I have to have my friends do it. There is
   a lack of privacy.''

   She and other blind plaintiffs, including the California Council of
   the Blind, decided to target Wells Fargo because they bank with the
   financial services company.

   Pondering next move

   Catherine Skivers, president of the advocacy group, said it has not
   yet decided whether to pursue similar talks with other banks.

   Although the talks could have ended in a lawsuit, Haeg said the
   company quickly realized that talking ATMs represented a ``business
   opportunity.''

   ``If there is an opportunity to earn more business and develop
   stronger relations with a certain segment of your customer base, why
   wouldn't you want to do it?'' he said.

   Dardarian said her law office was pleased to reach a settlement
   without going to court. The talking machines will be rolled out
   starting next June with locations of high customer use receiving them
   first, she said. ``There is no excuse for not doing it. There is not a
   technological barrier and there is no undue burden that the banks can
   show,'' she said.

   Negotiations with Wells Fargo took years to complete in part because
   the different parties had to evaluate various kinds of technology,
   Dardarian said. The technology that was eventually accepted includes
   earphones and a voice welcoming the customer to Wells Fargo.

   Giving instructions

   The voice explains the layout of the keypad and gives instructions in
   how the user can make different transactions. When one is selected,
   the machine audibly confirms it, she said. The technology is not able
   to inform the user verbally of his or her balance, nor can the user
   communicate with the machine by voice.

   The settlement also obligates Wells Fargo to make other banking
   information accessible to the visually impaired. Account statements,
   product brochures, notices, loan applications and legal disclosures
   will be made available by audio, Braille, large print, a computer disc
   or online, Dardarian said.


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