Bucks Blog: An A.T.M., With a Real Teller on the Screen

Bank of America Bank of America’s new A.T.M.’s offer on-screen help from human tellers.

Bank of America is introducing new automated teller machines that evoke the bridge of the starship Enterprise, where captain and crew spoke remotely with others in outer space.

The bank’s “teller assist” A.T.M.’s let customers get on-screen help from a remote bank teller over a live video link for transactions like check cashing. Unlike the intergalactic characters on “Star Trek,” though, the bank’s on-screen tellers are sitting in call centers in Florida and Delaware.

The bank is introducing the new machines at a branch in Boston this month, and it will add more sites there and in Atlanta this spring, for a total of 12 locations in those two markets. More machines will be added in other cities throughout the year. They will be located at drive-up lanes as well as inside bank lobbies and 24-hour vestibules.

Shelley Waite, senior vice president and head of the A.T.M. business at Bank of America, said the new machines could handle most transactions that can be done by an in-person teller. In addition to cashing checks, customers will be able to conduct “split” transactions, in which part of a check deposited goes to a checking account and part to a savings account. Eventually the machines will allow payments for mortgages and other loans. (Some transactions, like obtaining a cashier’s check, must still be done in person.)

“Customers want expanded capabilities,” Ms. Waite said, and the new machines allow the bank to meet that demand. The remote tellers at the new A.T.M.’s will effectively expand branch hours, she said, by being available from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends.

In a demonstration video I viewed, a bank customer is shown speaking to a teller, who appears on a screen wearing a headset. The teller greets the customer by name and helps her cash a check. The machine dispenses the exact amount of the check, including change. The new machines can dispense bills in varying denominations, including $1, $5 and $100 bills. (With a traditional A.T.M., you can deposit a check and then make a separate cash withdrawal, but you’ll receive bills in standard denominations.)

If customers don’t need help, or if they’re using the A.T.M. outside the “teller assist” hours, they can use the machines just like traditional A.T.M.’s. Or they can visit tellers in person during normal branch hours.

The new machines are being added as the bank tweaks its A.T.M. strategy. Last year, it removed machines at some locations, like convenience stores and shopping malls. The bank has more than 16,000 A.T.M.’s.

What do you think of A.T.M.’s with video tellers?

Article source: http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/04/an-a-t-m-with-a-real-teller-on-the-screen/?partner=rss&emc=rss