(2 of 2)
Though they have deployed only a few thousand Web-enabled ATMs in the U.S., manufacturers are already primed for the next phase of automated tellers to be used in a wireless--or even cashless--society. This spring, NCR will begin a pilot program in Denmark that lets users access their cash by pointing a Bluetooth-enabled mobile device at an ATM rather than inserting a card. The company is preparing a drive-up ATM that works with dashboard computers in certain cars. And at a conference last month in Singapore, Asian bankers had to sign a nondisclosure agreement before NCR would give them a glimpse of the future: Palm Pilots and cell phones communicating with a cardless ATM that can download games or MP3 tunes. The industry is banking on the notion that mobile professionals will still need a place to print documents and pick up data.
The big profit from automated tellers may eventually come through one-to-one marketing. While only about 500 machines worldwide are testing this technology, the Boston consulting firm Celent Communications predicts that the number will jump to 80,000 by 2005. Soon, as customers pay down their car loans, for example, their ATMs will suggest timely preapproved loans for a spiffy new vehicle. Or if a user doesn't have enough funds to cover a withdrawal, he could be offered overdraft protection or a loan--which is better than being told, "I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that."
--With reporting by Hilary Hylton/Austin and Douglas Wong/Singapore