Talking ATM's are being deployed now in Australia with more to come.  In
addition, there are also talking ATM's in Spain too.  More info is below
as is what some of the accessibility in the future will be like.

Kelly

Atmmarketplace.com

ATMs becoming more accessible in Australia


SYDNEY -- Australia was the latest stop for NCR's concept ATM loaded with
features designed to improve accessibility for those with disabilities.
The manufacturer continues to collect opinion from all corners of the
globe in an effort to find the options most relevant to users.

Among features highlighted at the demonstration in Sydney were mobile
phone access and speech synthesis technology to guide transactions for
sight-impaired customers, low-height keyboards designed for wheelchair
users, large navigational buttons for people with limited dexterity and
textured symbols to indicate different service points.

The prototype was initially launched in Canada in August 2001, with focus
groups there testing some of the 57 features.

Some features deemed unhelpful in that pilot that have since been removed
include hot air jets at the card reader and raised ridges called leader
lines, which purportedly guided people around the machine.

Peter Frielick, vice president of NCR's Financial Solutions division,
South Pacific, said banks are under continual pressure to improve
customer service, and accessible ATM technology is one way of doing so.

"It will allow greater accessibility to people with whatever type of
disability they may have, whether partially sighted, wheel-chair based,
temporarily disabled from a sporting accident or totally blind," he said.

The accessible ATM's features would also boost banking services to
Australia's aging customers -- the average life expectancy being 79
years. On a global scale, more than 380 million consumers are over 65,
according to NCR.

"As people get older, sight goes and hearing goes. These are loyal
customers for the banks and banks want to . provide good access to the
banking services," Frielick said.

While audio-enabled ATMs utilizing headsets were released in the
Australian market earlier this year, mobile telephone lead-through
technology -- by which consumers could use mobile phones to conduct
transactions at ATMs -- was sparking the most interest from the banking
community because it would enable those with visual impairments and other
disabilities to use the audio services more discreetly, Frielick said.

It would also remove the problem of carrying around headsets to use with
audio-enabled ATMs, he said.

Hypothetically, a sight-impaired customer who had applied for the mobile
service through his bank would insert his card and enter his PIN at the
ATM; the transaction process would then be connected to the phone. He
could then listen to options and prompts over the phone while appearing
to use the ATM in a normal manner.

Despite strong interest in this feature, Frielick said the feature most
likely to be implemented next in the real world is the wheelchair-enabled
access ATM, with a dual keyboard placed at a lower height for easier
reach on freestanding machines.

Time to market for any of the features has yet to be determined. Frielick
said each feature would require further development in consultation with
focus groups, as well as certification by the various standards bodies
worldwide.

"We have to work to ensure that anything we do will meet or set the
standards," he said. "Generally the process stretches out, but I think it
is important to have these consultations and make sure that the process
is followed rather than to introduce something that unilaterally doesn't
fit the requirements."

Installment costs of individual features was not available, however
Frielick said accessible ATM prices would be comparable with current
market rates. Typically, ATMs range from $AUS10,000 to $AUS50,000.

"We don't expect to see huge incremental changes in our cost range,
otherwise it would be prohibitive," he said.

Frielick said improving personalization services and access using the ATM
channel was commanding the largest chunk of the $US 300 million budget
NCR commits annually to research and development.

NCR customer Westpac in March introduced ATMs with audio-assisted cash
withdrawal and balance inquiry capabilities, following the lead of rival
National Australia Bank, which did so in February.

National Australia Bank launched Australia's first audio-enabled machines
based on the Windows NT platform in a joint venture with its ATM
supplier, Diebold. According to an NAB spokesperson, the bank intends to
install nine more voice-enabled machines this year. The spokesperson said
all newly installed ATMs would be voice-enabled from January 2003.

Westpac will install "talking" ATMs in nine locations in Sydney and
Melbourne by the end of April 2002, with three already in operation in
Sydney and Melbourne.

According to a Westpac spokesperson, the company has spent the past 12
months developing best practice standards and guidelines with interest
groups representing the senior citizen community and those with sight,
physical and intellectual impairments.

Free headsets are available at branches where the audio-enabled machines
are located, or customers can provide their own. Further functionality
such as deposit capabilities will be delivered in phase two of the
project within 6-12 months, the spokesperson said.

The audio-enabled software runs on a Windows NT platform and NCR's APTRA
software.


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