A video ATM? A look at NCR's video teller services

Dollar Bank in the US has announced it will introduce video tellers at three cash machines in the Pittsburgh area in May that will allow customers to see and speak with a remote teller even when branches are closed.

Dollar will be the first bank in Western Pennsylvania or Ohio - and one of the very first in the US - to deploy such ATMs, said Jeff Dudash, spokesman for NCR Corp., the Dayton-based ATM maker.

Each of the video tellers initially will operate from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. or even 9 p.m., he said. Dollar operates 73 ATMs in the Pittsburgh region, and 46 around Cleveland. Dollar will roll out walk-up and drive-thru machines at selected branches in the second quarter in a move that will reduce customer waiting times during busy periods of the day and enable the bank to stay open during evenings and on weekends.

The ATMs that incorporate video-conference technology, enabling customers to speak live to tellers.

The Aptra Interactive Teller can be used either as a normal ATM or a portal through which customers can conduct transactions with a live, remote teller via video conference.

Using the system is little different to speaking to a teller in the flesh, says Dollar but the bank will initially use a "concierge approach", with a staff member running through the process.

Last month NCR made an investment in uGenius, the Utah-based video banking outfit with which it developed the Aptra Interactive Teller.

See the new ATM in action.