Banks Start Charging for Automated Phone Service.(Originated from St. Petersburg Times, Fla.)

Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, May, 1997 by Torbenson, Eric

May 15--Some banks are now making their customers pay to talk with a machine.

Automated phone banking, advertised as a convenient replacement for bank tellers, is a big selling point for many major banks. But it turns out that the service isn't always free.

For several years, some of the country's largest banks have been dinging some of their customers between 50 cents and $2 if they call such services too often.

NationsBank Corp. charges 50 cents per call to an automated teller after eight free calls to the system each month. First Union Corp. charges 50 cents per call after five free calls a month, and after two free conversations with a person, First Union charges customers $2 a call if they want to do it again in the same...

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