SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich has received a bill that offers banks the option of installing reverse PIN technology rather than mandating it.
According to a report in the Daily Southtown, the bill passed both houses last week -- but without the language hoped for by Joseph Zingher, a former attorney who holds a patent on software that would allow ATM customers to enter an emergency PIN -- usually their normal PIN reversed -- if being robbed or forced to withdraw money. (See related story Crime continues to dog ATM industry)
The emergency code would direct the machine to dispense cash after sending a secret message to a security company or local police station.
The bill notes that banks "may" install the reverse PIN technology if they want to.
"Making it optional is tantamount to declaring it unnecessary," Zingher said. "It's a joke."
"We're reviewing it right now," Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said of the legislation. "We're taking a closer look at it and what the implications might be."
Zingher claims the program would be inexpensive. However, the Office of Banks and Real Estate (OBRE), a state regulatory body, conducted a 1999 study that concluded that a statewide reverse PIN system would be too expensive, and that there was no proof the system would reduce the frequency of ATM crimes.
According to the OBRE study, it would cost the industry about $1,500 per ATM to implement the system. Zingher said that figure was a "bald-faced lie" and claims it would cost only $25.
Bank One, the Chicago area's largest bank with more than 1,000 ATMs, has no plans to implement a reverse PIN system, according to company spokeswoman Calmetta Coleman.
"We will not be instituting the reverse PIN numbers in our ATMs," she told the Daily Southtown. "Primarily that's because when our customers come in and set up a new account, we give them a list of ATM safety tips ..."
John Hall, a spokesman for the American Bankers Association, said the industry long has been aware of Zingher's proposal, but no one opted to use it. "We're all for anything that decreases ATM crime," he said. "But the question is, how effective would this be?"
According to the Office of Banks and Real Estate report, using secret codes to notify police could be the last thing on the minds of robbery victims.
"Being surprised by the threat of bodily harm is extremely stressful," the report stated. "Under these conditions, it is difficult enough for many people to remember their correct PIN number. It may be asking too much of a consumer to try to remember a second emergency PIN."
A current proposal to require an emergency 911 line at ATMs in New York faces an uncertain future. New York Senate Banking Committee Chairman Hugh Farley said it had "little or no support" in his committee. (See related story Proposal for 911 line at ATMs not likely to get vote in NY Senate)
