CLEVELAND, Ohio - National City Corporation will spend $30 million to replace or upgrade its network of 1,580 ATMs during the next 30 months, according to a report in the Cleveland Business Journal.
The project includes replacing 1,000 machines with Opteva ATMs purchased from Diebold. Additionally, Diebold will upgrade the remaining ATMs in the National City network to its ix Series technology.
Following the upgrade, all of National City's machines will offer voice guidance for the visually impaired in both English and Spanish options. In October 2002, the Cleveland Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind honored National City as the first bank to offer talking ATMs in the city.
Sarah Hartman, executive vice president of National City Bank, called audio ATM capability "a cornerstone of plans to upgrade all of the ATMs across our six-state franchise."
Hartman said, "We're excited to offer our customers access to the newest state-of-the-art equipment to perform their banking transactions. These new ATMs will also offer enhanced safety for our customers by providing new security features."
According to Diebold, the security features include consumer awareness mirrors, recessed keypads and display areas to assist in preventing theft and fraud.
National City operates bank branches and ATMs in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
