This article highlights yet another bank that has joined the talking ATM
bandwagon.  Union Safe Deposit Bankof Stockton, California has talking
ATM's at 17 of its 19 branches.

Kelly






Stockton [California] Record

Sunday, July 27, 2003


    Talking ATMs aid visually impaired

"The best things in life are free, But you can keep 'em for the birds and
bees. Now give me money,
That's what I want." -- The Beatles (words and music by Berry Gordy Jr.
and Janie Bradford)

    By Reed Fujii Record Staff Writer


    Automated teller machines may not sing, but many are learning to
talk.

    Visually impaired bank patrons may plug earphones or headphones into
these so-called talking ATMs to take advantage of the convenience long
enjoyed by sighted users.

    "These things really do work," said Ken Volonte of Stockton,
president of San Joaquin County chapter of the National Federation of
the Blind of California. "It's very user-friendly, and it does make
banking more accessible."

    Banks may offer visually impaired customers special help telephone
lines and, of course, teller assistance. But it was difficult for those
customers to use traditional ATMs without being able to see the display
screen. That has changed in the past few years as the voice-enabled
machines have been introduced in large numbers.

    The key to the talking ATM is it provides audible instructions, much
like a computerized voice-mail system, offering menus of choices and
directions for use.

    "It essentially takes you through verbally," said Joni Bauer,
orientation and mobility specialist at Stockton's Community Center for
the Blind and Visually Impaired. "It allows folks to access ATMs
independently. They don't have to have help to see the ATM because there
is no way to know what is coming up on the screen."

    Bauer said using a talking ATM for the first time might be a little
difficult, but it's mostly the challenge of finding one's way through
unfamiliar territory, much as a sighted person might stumble through his
or her first encounter with an automated teller.

    The one other drawback, she added, is that "you always have to have
a pair of headphones or earphones with you."

    Banks do offer other access services. Tellers, of course, interact
verbally with clients. Many institutions offer telephone service lines.
And the visually impaired can use old-style ATMs if there is a trusted
helper along to read the screen.

    "It's not that there aren't alternative ways to do it," Volonte said
of the talking ATMs. "It's more private this way, and it makes you feel
good that accessibility is thought of."

    That's typical of the customer comments Bank of America is getting
about its talking ATMs, spokesman Harvey Radin said from San Francisco.

    "We're getting an overwhelmingly positive response," he said. "The
message we're hearing the most is about how much they appreciate
independence. The word independence is a key."

    Talking ATMs began appearing about three years ago as major banks
responded to disability rights lawsuits filed by advocacy groups for the
blind. It was a process that took years of legal wrangling and
negotiations, Volonte said.

    "The banking industry didn't want to do it for a long time, because
they thought the technology would be too costly. But as more things
talked, the technology got cheaper and cheaper."

    "They really didn't understand why blind people would need or care
about such independence," Jeff Thom, president of the California Council
of the Blind, said of banking officials. "It was only when they really
got a grasp on the idea of, How would you like it if you went into a
bank and weren't able to do your banking?"

    Now, talking ATMs are more the rule than the exception, at least for
some of the nation's largest banks.

    Wells Fargo & Co., for example, has talking ATMs at five locations
in Stockton, two spots in Manteca, two in Lodi and one in Tracy,
according to the bank's Web site. A search of Bank of America's Internet
pages turned up 10 Stockton locations offering talking ATM service,
three in Manteca, four in Tracy, two in Lodi and one in Lathrop.

    BofA previously announced plans to install 7,000 of the adaptive
machines nationwide by 2005. It already has more than 3,000 in operation
in about 30 states, Radin said.

    "They are increasingly widespread among the banks," Bauer said. "At
first, they were available only on an extremely limited basis."

    Smaller, regional banks, however, have been slower to accept the
talking ATMs.

    "Maybe they don't realize how relatively inexpensive it is. And
there's always an element of resistance to any sort of change," Thom
said, adding that he would like to persuade his own financial
institution, The Golden 1 Credit Union, to install some of the adaptive
machines.

    "So far, I've met with a little resistance, but I'm going to pursue
that," he promised.

    Bank of Stockton has no talking ATMs now, but Jim Lawrence, vice
president and manager of information services, said that will change "in
the very near future."

    "We are actually in the process of replacing or upgrading some of
our ATMs," he said. "Most of our machines are actually audio ready. It's
just a matter of putting in (an electronic circuit) card that allows the
remote earpiece to be used."

    Farmers & Merchants Bank of Central Central California also plans to
update its network of 25 ATMs.

    "We're putting our plan together and probably will have it done
within the next two years' time," said Debbie Hodkin, executive vice
president and chief administrative officer of the Lodi-based bank.

    As old machines are replaced or upgraded, the voice feature will be
added. she said.

    At least one Stockton bank is further ahead in the game, however.

    Union Safe Deposit Bank has replaced the ATMs at 17 of its 19
offices and, via an external speaker, the new machines give audible
instructions to all bank patrons, said Steve Stevenson, executive vice
president and marketing director.

    Bank customers have responded very positively to the chatty
machines, he said, and they've proved helpful even to sighted users.

    "For the customers who are new to the machine or don't know quite
what to do, it is helpful to have that prompt," Stevenson said.

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    * To reach reporter Reed Fujii, phone 546-8253 or e-mail
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