News coverage of the opening of the new Royal Bank Audio Banking
Machine in Ottawa Wednesday 22 October.

the following are the texts of press coverage in the Calgary
Herrald and the Ottawa Sun, There was also a photo with caption in
the Toronto Star business section on Thursday October 23rd.

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Calgary Herald          October 23, 1997 --

The blind, visually impaired or people who are not comfortable with
modern technology are getting a chance to do their banking just
like everybody else.

A new audio banking machine launched Wednesday by the Royal Bank
looks like a regular machine but is equipped with a jack that lets
customers plug in their headphones to hear a voice that guides them
through a transaction. Only one of the machines is available, in a
downtown Ottawa branch. Over the next six months, 12 more will be
installed across the country.

"(It's) very easy to use," said John Bullen, president of the
Canadian Council of the Blind, after testing the machine. "The big
advantage of the audio is that it meets everybody's needs, so if
you're braille user you can still use the audio, if you are large
print user, you can still use the audio."

Chuck Wilson, a senior manager responsible for the bank's direct
banking networks, said the audio machine can be used by any of the
bank's six million customers. But the modification -- which costs
a few hundred dollars per machine -- is really aimed at individuals
who are visually impaired, seniors who feel more comfortable having
someone talk to them and people in wheelchairs who find it hard to
reach all of a bank machine's buttons. "When you insert the headset
into the banking machine you operate all of the functions from the
keypad that's at the base of the banking machine, so from a reach
perspective it's a lot easier," Wilson said.

The audio service was also intended to help the technically
illiterate, who constitute almost 40 per cent of all adult
Canadians, data from the National Literacy Secretariat shows. The
Royal Bank, which spent two years and about $500,000 on the
project, considered having a machine that customers could talk to,
but concerns about privacy and security made that impossible.

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    Ottawa Sun      23 October 1997
BLIND BANKING ON NEW ATMS
TALKING TELLERS HELP VISUALLY IMPAIRED
 By STUART McCARTHY -- Business Editor

THE ROYAL Bank has picked Ottawa for Canada's first automated
teller for the blind.  It's a fitting site for the realization of
a process which started 13 years ago when Ottawa's Chris and Marie
Stark first approached the Royal asking for better service for  the
visually impaired.       Their frustration, which started in 1984,
turned into a discrimination complaint with the Human     Rights
Commission in 1991. That led to the Royal starting work with
Ottawa's T-Base Corp. to provide a range of documents, audio tapes,
braille and computer discs on banking services.

Yesterday, those services took another leap forward with the audio
banking machine. "Over the last two years we've worked with
consumer groups, the CNIB, Canadian Council for the Blind and T-
Base on this," said Chuck Wilson of the Royal's Direct Banking
Network. "This just isn't a bank solution." About $500,000 was
spent to develop the enhanced automated teller, which has a
universal key pad with a raised dot on the "5" key for easy
navigation. Keys with other symbols point to the cancel, correct
and enter keys and the machine is equipped with a jack for
headphones to give verbal instructions. The machine also dispenses
all funds in $5 bills. "The visually impaired people we spoke with
said they wanted to use the same kind of headset they use with a
Walkman for listening to talking books," said Wilson.The bank also
provides free headsets with its information kit to those customers.
Wilson said there are an estimated 800,000 visually impaired
Canadians so the automated  teller makes good sense."In five to six
years, there's no reason why they can't all be equipped like this,"
he said. As younger generations age, they'll want to continue
accessing machines they're used to, despite acquiring handicaps.
Another dozen machines are scheduled for installation across Canada
by the spring.

John Bullen, president of the Canadian Council of the Blind, flew
in from New Brunswick with his guide dog Chaussette to try the
machine."This machine meets the needs of most people with visual
impairment," said Bullen. "It's very user-friendly. You just listen
to it and follow it step-by-step -the machine does all the work."
He said the setup inside the lobby of the Royal Bank at the corner
of Bank St. and Queen St., which uses a guiding rail and a textured
floor to direct customers to      the machine, lets the handicapped
do their banking with dignity and security.


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