BOSTON - FleetBoston Financial will install 1,420 talking ATMs throughout the northeastern U.S., by far the largest deployment of the machines designed to assist the sight-impaired in accessing ATM machines.
Fleet has installed 16 of the talking ATMs in Massachusetts, and expects to increase that number to 150 this year, expanding to New Hampshire and the metropolitan New York area. It expects to complete the installations throughout its service area, stretching from Maine to Pennsylvania, in two years.
Fleet announced its talking ATM initiative in conjunction with the Boston-based Disability Law Center, a leading advocate for the blind community. Two well-known blind athletes, runner Marla Runyan and skier Rob Walsh, were on hand to participate in the Fleet announcement at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Mass.
Talking ATMs have been at the center of discussions within the industry for the past several months, and a group of advocates for the blind met with banking leaders Jan. 26 in Washington, D.C. In February, Mellon Bank announced a plan to install 11 talking ATMs in Pennsylvania.
The ATMs are equipped with universal audio jacks so that users can get audio instructions on using the machines. Both NCR and Diebold, manufacturers of ATMs for Fleet, are participating in the program.
