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Wright-Patt Credit Union Inc. unveiled new automated teller machine technology Tuesday at a new branch office in Springboro.
The machines let users video conference from inside the lobby or the drive-through with remote tellers. The tellers actually sit in offices near the Dayton Mall, said Doug Fecher, credit union president and chief executive officer.
NCR Corp., the maker of the new personal teller machines, confirmed Wright-Patt is the first financial institution to introduce the ATMs with interactive video technology in southwest Ohio.
“One of the things that happens in financial institutions is people stand in line to do routine transactions — cash checks, make a deposit on payday,” Fecher said.
“On any given day in our 25 member centers, we may have a big line at one of them and no line at another. These personal teller machines allow us to allocate our tellers virtually to any one of the member centers we have in our network once they’re outfitted with the machines.”
A demonstration showed customers can use the new ATMs to make deposits and withdrawals like normal, but while talking to a teller via video. The teller will ask a user to scan their driver’s license or photo ID to verify their identity. It has a touch screen and a phone for more private conversations.
The remote teller can deposit money into whatever account the customer says. Customers can withdraw money in any denomination bill or change.
The benefit is to provide banking services at lower cost, freeing credit union employees to meet with member customers about loans and credit products, Fecher said. The video ATMs do not replace tellers, he said.
“In fact, we believe ultimately as we continue to grow we will need more tellers,” he said. “What we’re really trying to do is to be able to continue to meet the member’s expectations of growth at a lower overall cost.”
Fairborn-based Wright-Patt, Ohio’s largest credit union, installed some of these personal teller machines at a newly built Springfield branch earlier this year. The new Springboro branch, located on Gardner Road off Ohio 741, is the credit union’s 25th branch and first in Warren County.
Wright-Patt has more than 250,000 members, $2.5 billion in assets and 540 employees.
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