While some of these ATM-based services may seem not to still be around
five years from now, today's oddball innovation may easily become
tomorrow's standard business practice.  thirty years ago ATM's themselves
were considered an unusual innovation.  Just five or six years ago,
online banking also fit into this category.  Now, some services, such as
bill pay, are only available through the banks website.  Can someone
write checks instead of making the website accessible for people with
disabilities so they can use bill pay?  yes, but if someone does not have
or has extremely poor handwriting skills such as a person who has been
blind all of his life, using bill pay on the web may be a more reliable
and timely option then relying on others to write checks.  This is why
full functionality is important.  Creating access now reduces the
likelihood of very costly and involved access solutions later which need
to be integrated into large and established systems.

Kelly

The Wall Street Journal
June 6, 2002

Now ATMs Can Go Beyond Cash As Banks Roll Out New Machines

High-Tech  Machines Expand Services, But Will Customers Embrace Features?

By MICHELLE HIGGINS
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Automated teller machines soon will be dispensing a lot more than cash.

Banks and other ATM operators have already equipped their machines so
users can purchase stamps, long-distance telephone minutes and even
theater tickets. Now comes a new generation of high-tech ATMs that allows
customers to sign up for credit cards or overdraft protection, even view
the stock-market ticker.

Bank of America, the country's largest ATM operator, recently introduced
about 500 machines that allow customers to pre-set preferences for
cash-withdrawal amounts and whether or not a customer wants a receipt.
FleetBoston allows customers to tap funds from home-equity loans through
its 3,700 ATMs. 7-Eleven is testing 98 machines that cash checks and send
wire transfers.

Still, the changes may be a mixed blessing for those who want nothing
more from their ATM than quick cash. Banks plan to run advertisements on
their ATMs that will be targeted to the specific personal financial
situation of each customer. At FleetBoston, some customers will have to
respond to a pitch -- say, for a new credit card -- before continuing
with their transaction. In addition, some other banks fret that
all-in-one machines could result in slower lines, alienating customers.

The new bells and whistles stem from big changes in ATM technology. Most
cash machines today run on International Business Machines' aging OS/2
operating platform, which banks say is expensive to operate and to
program. However, IBM isn't selling OS/2 to new customers, and many banks
already are switching to the more flexible Microsoft NT operating system.

The banking industry hopes the new-fangled machines will offset a sharp
drop in transactions per ATM. While the number of ATMs nearly has
quadrupled to 324,000 nationwide over the past decade, the number of
monthly transactions per machine has fallen by nearly half since 1997.
Banks, which have been jacking up ATM fees anyway, believe the new
features will allow them to squeeze more revenue out of each machine and
differentiate themselves from the competition.

It isn't just banks. 7-Eleven, which currently has traditional cash
machines in some 5,300 stores across the country, is going after
consumers who don't have credit cards or banks accounts. The Dallas-based
convenience-store chain is currently testing in Texas and Florida what
one spokeswoman calls an "ATM on steroids," which can cash checks and
transfer money. 7-Eleven plans to roll out even more advanced functions
later this year allowing consumers to order event tickets, scan the
weather or lottery results, get travel directions or shop online.

The banking industry has talked for years about how ATMs would replace
human tellers, and it hasn't happened. Now, banks have better technology
and better information on their customers.

Still, some banks are being cautious about souping up their ATMs with new
features or product pitches. Wachovia says it won't run targeted ads,
which ask customers to respond "yes" or "no" to get more information
about a product, during peak ATM usage periods like lunchtime or after
work hours. "We didn't want someone standing there trying to make up
their mind, holding up the line," says Gary Bargeron, senior vice
president of the bank's ATM group. Mr. Bargeron emphasizes that the ads
are only "milliseconds" longer than the normal time consumers wait for
their cash.

Speeding Things Up

Other banks are keeping their ads short and hoping that customized
settings will keep visits to the cash machine speedy. Bank of America
will have 2,000 machines with targeted ads and personalization options by
year-end. The ads appear while customers wait to get their dough and
range from five to seven seconds, mimicking the time frame users usually
wait to get their cash back. To speed up things, customers can pre-set
cash-withdrawal preferences.

Not everybody is raving about the new high-tech ATMs. "I was distracted
by the video," says Dianne Wright, a management consultant from Miami who
recently used a Bank of America ATM that showed a video of a blind woman
doing martial arts to promote talking ATMs for the visually impaired.

Not Just Cash

Across the country, banks and other ATM operators are offering everything
from check cashing to pre-paid wireless phone cards.

Table with 4 columns and 7 rows

Company Total No. of ATMs New features Where you can find them

Bank of America 14,000 Ability to pre-set preferences for language, fast
cash, and receipts. Targeted ads on everything from mortgages to online
banking. Introduced about 500 machines in seven states including Texas
and Washington D.C. Plans to roll out around 2,000 more before year-end.

E*Trade 11,000 Pre-paid wireless cards, gift cards, targeted ads, and
ability to transfer funds between bank and brokerage accounts. Pre-paid
wireless card program is being tested on just five machines in New York,
Boston, San Francisco and Denver. Other services to be introduced later
this year.

FleetBoston 3,700 Ability to pre-set language and withdrawal option. Tap
funds from home equity loan and cash reserve lines. Currently available
on all ATMs, which are located in the Northeast. Plans to add more
features this fall starting in New York.

7-Eleven 5,300 Cash checks and transfer money. 98 ATMs in Florida and
Texas. Plans to install 3,500 more by end of 2003.

Wachovia 4,600 Targeted ads, stamps, long-distance phone time and check
re-ordering Currently running on 3,400 First Union ATMs. Plans on
extending the ad campaign to its 1,200 newly acquired Wachovia ATMs by
summer of 2003.

Wells Fargo 6,400 Displays full-motion video, the MSNBC ticker, and
targeted ads. 1,700 in 21 states, primarily in the Western U.S. table end

Pay Your Bills

FleetBoston is rolling out similar customization features and targeted
ads at all of its 3,700 machines, which are located in the Northeast. In
the fall, customers who use its online bill-pay program will be able to
pay their bills through the ATM.

Wells Fargo, meanwhile, already is using targeted ads for everything from
home-equity loans to overdraft protection on 1,700 of its 6,400 ATMs.
"What we're leveraging is the ability to pin-point the product to you,"
says Bob Chlebowski, executive vice president of distribution strategies
for Wells Fargo. If a customer doesn't have enough cash in his or her
account for a withdrawal at a Wells Fargo ATM, a screen pops up
suggesting overdraft protection. The bank isn't just being helpful. Any
overdraft ends up on the customer's Wells Fargo credit card, generating
fees for the bank.

Pitching to Customers

First Union has used its ATMs to pitch customers on the benefits of
converting their ATM card into a check card, which functions more like a
credit card. First Union says that response to targeted ATM ads has been
13% better than direct mail. As a result, Wachovia, the bank formed by
last year's merger of Wachovia and First Union, is planning on extending
the ad campaign to 1,200 additional ATMs by year end.

Write to Michelle Higgins at
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