AT&T INTRODUCES DOCUMENT PROCESSING AUTOMATED TELLER MACHINE; Designed for Banks to Extend Self-Service Capabilities; Bank Customers Can Cash Checks, Make Bill Payments At More Convenient Locations

Business Wire, Nov 29, 1994

DAYTON, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--November 29, 1994--AT&T Global Information Solutions, the world's leading manufacturer of automated teller machines (ATMs) and self-service solutions, today launched the Document Processing Automated Teller Machine (DP-ATM).

The DP-ATM gives banks the ability to reduce costs and better serve customers by providing many types of document processing through self-service, including check cashing, check deposits without envelopes and bill payments. The DP-ATM is a new feature for AT&T's fourth generation family of self-service terminals and can be installed in any existing full-function AT&T 56xx self-service terminal.

"Banks are looking for ways to lower the cost of delivering basic services while offering their customers added convenience," said John Gray, vice president, Financial Products and Systems Marketing, AT&T Global Information Solutions. "While research shows that consumers are now very comfortable using self-service terminals to dispense cash and would like additional capabilities such as check cashing, they are still not entirely comfortable using today's existing ATM depositories. By eliminating envelopes, displaying the document image on the screen, confirming the amount deposited, and providing a detailed receipt, the DP-ATM addresses these consumer confidence issues and will motivate consumers to use this more convenient, lower cost delivery channel."

Several major U.S. banks, including Barnett Bank and Huntington Bancshares, and the MAC network, the nation's largest regional ATM network based on switch transactions, are piloting the DP-ATM. In addition, several major electronic funds transfer processing application providers will support the DP-ATM, including Applied Communications, Inc. (ACI); S2: Shared Systems, Corp.; Deluxe Data Systems; Software Development and Maintenance International, Inc. (SDM); and US Software, Inc.

"Our objective is to focus on the needs of our customers and they are telling us they want the convenience of banking 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said Peter Geier, senior vice president and executive director of consumer services for Huntington Bancshares Incorporated. "The Huntington intends to continue to grow and provide value to customers and shareholders and we're going to do that by providing the best services through the most convenient channels. The AT&T DP-ATM gives us the ability to cost-effectively provide the advanced functions our customers want."

"The MAC network has the largest installed base of previous generation deposit processing ATMs and broad experience in working towards consumer acceptance of this technology," said Paul H. Weston, director of product management, MONEY ACCESS SERVICE INC, a division of Electronic Payment Services, Inc. (EPS) and operator of the MAC network. "We anticipate that the DP-ATM will deliver the reliability consumers have come to expect from ATMs, as well as consumer interface features designed to instill confidence that the transaction has been completed correctly. We have seen a tremendous growth in the consumer's desire and willingness to perform routine transactions through self-service, and AT&T's DP-ATM reinforces our view that technology solutions are keeping up with consumer demands." True Document Processing

The DP-ATM provides banks the ability to process many types of documents. For example, the DP-ATM can cash checks to the penny with the optional coin dispenser or accept checks for deposit without having to use an envelope. Using advanced recognition technology from AT&T Bell Laboratories, the DP-ATM can read the courtesy amount on a check and then perform a process called courtesy amount verification (CAV) to automatically compare the amount read to the amount entered by the consumer. The recognition capabilities of the DP-ATM, which can also ensure the check has been signed by the payer and endorsed by the payee before being cashed or deposited, are the industry's most advanced and accurate.

"Since ATMs were first introduced, there has been little change in the percentage of customers using ATMs for deposits," said Thomas Sladowski, vice president of electronic banking at Chemical Bank. "We anticipate the DP-ATM will enable us to move many deposit-related transactions from tellers to the ATM and do it in a way which does not add to end of day processing costs. We also look forward to the ability to cash checks. These new functions will provide added convenience for our customers while enabling us to maximize the efficiency of our delivery channels."

In addition to checks, the DP-ATM can process a variety of other types of documents. For example, the DP-ATM can read MICR (magnetic ink character recognition) and OCR (optical character recognition) code lines that are found on utility bills and other types of remittances. The DP-ATM can also read text of various fonts that might be found on credit card bills or handwriting on change-of-address forms. The DP-ATM is designed with the flexibility to automate the processing of a wide range of documents.