ATM Innovations

Tired of filling out deposit slips, sealing the checks and deposit slip in an envelope and then dumping the envelope into a black hole in a machine? NCR has developed a new machine to reduce frustration. You simply feed the checks you wish to deposit into the machine. It takes a digital photo of each check. Optical character recognition software records the amount of the check, shows it to the depositor and asks for an O.K. on the amount. The machine then produces a receipt for the deposit, which includes a photo of the check and the amount credited to the depositor's account.

Coming soon are web-based ATMs that will dispense tickets to sport events, maps, directions and images of cancelled checks from your account. However, these extra services are likely to create long lines at the ATMs. Consequently, the more immediate trend is to use the ATMs to show advertisements for other services of the bank, for example a notice that the bank's mortgage rates have just dropped. According David Margulius' article in the New York Times, Bank of America plans to expand its fleet of 200 Web-based ATMs to 2,000 over the next year. Also, 7-Eleven stores have joined with American Express and Western Union to test Web-based ATMs that would cash checks and money orders, as well as provide wire transfers.