I just finished registering to be a tester and the good thing about it is
that you don't have to be one of their customers to take part. My bank is
Hudson United bank and I just called because I wanted to see if they were in
someway affiliated with my bank. They said no but that they have a lot of
branches in New Jersey and that there would not be any charge for using
their ATM machines. I know that my bank don't charge me so I went ahead an
enroll in their program. So if you are interested, but don't belong to
PNC, you might still be able to participate. The only thing that I hope is
when you are waiting to use the ATM and you place the call, that they
don't put you on hold for a long time because they are helping someone else.
In this case it would be kind of bad if you have people waiting for their
turn.
Eddie
-----Original Message-----
From: VICUG-L: Visually Impaired Computer Users' Group List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of M. J. P. Senk
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2001 10:08 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: PA: PNC pilot begins - testers needed
The customer service line should now be available 24 hours per day. You
may read more at http://www.pncbank.com/vip_settlement.html
--- from www.pncbank.com ---
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR OUR VISUALLY IMPAIRED CUSTOMERS
In early 2001, The PNC Financial Services Group and the Disabilities Law
Project, which represents two visually impaired PNC customers, announced a
tentative
settlement of the lawsuit regarding access to automated teller machines.
Under the terms of the settlement, PNC will be the first financial
institution
nationwide to test an innovative solution using cellular phones and
specially trained phone representatives to guide the visually impaired
through an ATM
transaction, providing "person-to-person ATM" service. The settlement
received preliminary approval on January 5, 2001 from U.S. District Court
Judge Donetta
Ambrose.
Benefits of "Person-to-Person ATM" Program
The tentative settlement calls for a testing and development phase followed
by a pilot program. Benefits to the visually impaired customers include the
following:
Human touch: The customer can call a special toll-free number by cellphone
to reach a specially trained representative from PNC's National Financial
Services
Center. He or she will guide the customer through the transaction and answer
questions or repeat instructions, if necessary. The phone representative
also
can confirm the final transaction (e.g., $100 withdrawal from the customer's
primary checking account).
Convenient: Visually impaired customers can use their own cellphone or will
be provided a phone from PNC with limited access to call only PNC to conduct
ATM transactions. Unlike the voice-guided ATMs -- "talking ATMs" that
require major equipment changes and headphones for the customer to hear
pre-recorded
instructions -- PNC's person-to-person ATMs require only the cellphone and
no major ATM repairs.
Easy: The PNC representative will talk through the transaction process with
the visually impaired customer, explain the buttons and commands, and answer
any questions, unlike the automated "talking ATMs" that do not provide for
any interaction.
Status of Settlement
The Pilot Program is currently underway. If you wish to participate in the
Pilot Program, please call 1-888-762-2002. The final hearing for approval of
the settlement will be heard before the United States District Court for the
Western District of Pennsylvania on December 14, 2001 at 1:30 p.m.
To view the Notice of Proposed Settlement of Class Action, which includes a
more complete summary of the terms of the proposed settlement,
please click here.
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VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask] In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html
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