Bank to offer talking ATMs

	August 1999

Bank to offer talking ATMs

Wells Fargo accord will help the blind
BY MAURA DOLAN
Los Angeles Times
SAN FRANCISCO -- Wells Fargo & Co. has agreed to provide talking ATMs in California following more than three years of negotiations with lawyers for the blind -- the first time a U.S. bank has agreed to take such a step.
Wells Fargo, the second-largest bank in California, is among those that already provide Braille on ATMs. But only about 15 percent of the blind can read Braille, and those who do say it still does not allow them to interact with the machines.
Coming just a day after the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed a federal disabilities rights law, the settlement is a reminder of the continuing power of both the federal law and state statutes to protect the disabled.
Under the out-of-court settlement unveiled Wednesday with the California Council of the Blind, Wells Fargo will install 20 talking ATMs with earphones next year in Los Angeles and San Diego counties and the Bay Area. The locations for the first wave of machines has not yet been determined, a spokeswoman said.
The settlement calls for talking machines at all of Wells Fargo's 1,500 California locations by the year 2003. Lawyers for the blind believe other banks will follow.
``This should really be the beginning of a wave,'' said Oakland lawyer Linda Dardarian, who represented four blind Wells Fargo customers and the California Council.
Bank of America spokeswoman Ann DeFabio said it, too, will begin a pilot program of talking ATMs next year. The bank has not yet decided where to test the machines or how many to test, she said.
Wells Fargo's talking machines, which are still in development, will give voice instruction through headphones on how to deposit money, withdraw cash, transfer funds and buy stamps. There will be one talking machine at all ATM sites, and customers will be able to choose whether to read or listen.
First such U.S. plan
Dardarian and a Wells Fargo spokesman said the settlement is the first such U.S. plan to be announced. A lawsuit to force a bank in Pennsylvania to install voice-equipped automatic teller machines is pending in federal court. Royal Bank of Canada has deployed such a machine.
Larry Haeg, a Wells Fargo spokesman, refused for ``competitive reasons'' to disclose the cost of providing talking ATMs. If the machines succeed in California, the company will offer them to other regions around the nation, he said.
Kathy Martinez, 40, one of the blind plaintiffs in the case, said she has long been frustrated by being unable to use ATMs by herself. Blind since birth, Martinez reads Braille but says that only allows her to obtain a small amount of ``quick cash.''
At times she has even resorted to asking strangers to help her at the cash machines, she said.
``It is scary,'' she said. ``I do it as little as possible, but if I don't have a stranger do it, I have to have my friends do it. There is a lack of privacy.''
She and other blind plaintiffs, including the California Council of the Blind, decided to target Wells Fargo because they bank with the financial services company.
Pondering next move
Catherine Skivers, president of the advocacy group, said it has not yet decided whether to pursue similar talks with other banks.
Although the talks could have ended in a lawsuit, Haeg said the company quickly realized that talking ATMs represented a ``business opportunity.''
``If there is an opportunity to earn more business and develop stronger relations with a certain segment of your customer base, why wouldn't you want to do it?'' he said.
Dardarian said her law office was pleased to reach a settlement without going to court. The talking machines will be rolled out starting next June with locations of high customer use receiving them first, she said. ``There is no excuse for not doing it. There is not a technological barrier and there is no undue burden that the banks can show,'' she said.
Negotiations with Wells Fargo took years to complete in part because the different parties had to evaluate various kinds of technology, Dardarian said. The technology that was eventually accepted includes earphones and a voice welcoming the customer to Wells Fargo.
Giving instructions
The voice explains the layout of the keypad and gives instructions in how the user can make different transactions. When one is selected, the machine audibly confirms it, she said. The technology is not able to inform the user verbally of his or her balance, nor can the user communicate with the machine by voice.
The settlement also obligates Wells Fargo to make other banking information accessible to the visually impaired. Account statements, product brochures, notices, loan applications and legal disclosures will be made available by audio, Braille, large print, a computer disc or online, Dardarian said.

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