News

PNC adding multiple language options to ATMs

March 17, 2004

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - PNC Bank has begun to roll out ATMs with screen options in seven languages. By the end of April, the bank expects to provide the options at more than 300 ATMs in Western Pennsylvania, according to a report in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

So far, the screens of almost 20 PNC ATMs in the Pittsburgh area can prompt card users in Spanish, French, German, Italian, Polish and Portuguese, as well as English.

"And where the population warrants, we can add one additional language, either Japanese or Korean," said Shelly Chandler, PNC vice president of self-service banking. For instance, PNC machines at Pittsburgh International Airport and airports in Philadelphia and outside Cincinnati can display instructions in Japanese.

According to the Tribune-Review, PNC Bank has 375 ATMs in Western Pennsylvania, including 260 in the six-county Pittsburgh region. The bank operates more than 3,600 ATMs in 40 states, most of them in its five-state banking footprint. Chandler said at least 3,000 of the bank's machines will be multilingual by the end of April.

Roughly 50 of PNC's cash machines in Western Pennsylvania are voice-guided and placed at locations recommended by the Disabilities Law Project. The group settled a 1999 lawsuit against PNC early last year that entailed installing voice-guided ATMs. PNC has about 250 voice-guided ATMs overall.