Bank of America’s new ATMs are a step forward. First, they’re lit up better. Second, they don’t require envelopes for deposits anymore: you can slide your checks directly into the ATM and it will automatically scan and attempt OCR on the check. This means when you deposit a check that was printed in a machine-readable font, you don’t even have to enter the amount. Sweet.
Whenever I make a deposit, I get a receipt (at least some evidence that I was actually at the ATM). The new receipts are larger with actual images of the checks that I deposited! This means I have proof that I deposited the checks that I say I did.
Right when I thought it couldn’t get any better, I did what I usually do which is say I want “another transaction” after depositing my checks, in order to withdraw some cash. Usually it would just say “another transaction?” (yes) → “choose a transaction type” (withdrawal) → “choose an account type” (checking) and then it would give me my cash, but also give me a receipt that I didn’t want! I only want a receipt for the checks I deposited; a receipt for cash is useless.
Well now it asks me if I want a receipt for my cash transaction before I do it! Rejoice!
It’s the little things that make me happy.
Nice.
My all-time favorite kiosks are the MTA card machines in the New York City subway.
Truly amazing. You can make two transactions in less than 60 seconds. Not too many kiosks can do that.
Speaking of kiosks, the train kiosks in Amsterdam are a nightmare. They ignore all common UI affordances and make you repeat steps throughout the process. The English version of the process is painful and obviously not designed by a native speaker. The entire thing is jargon-ridden, without any simple indication of what you are actually buying.
Oh, and they don’t accept American credit cards — only ones with PINs. I guess it’s a European thing. Hostile to tourists much?
I agree - the new atm check deposit process surprised me pleasantly. i was on the phone going through my normal routine of deposit process and didn’t pay attention to the new instructions that said “no envelope necessary” and slid the envelope anyway. It rejected the envelope! I was surely paying attention then.
What’s next in the ATM world?
These might be okay if you have one check, or a bill or two to deposit. I have often deposited 40 or 50 checks and as many bills, after hours, in the old ATMs. This has been quite convenient. The bank apparently considers me too insignificant to use the night depository. Now, I suppose I must itemize my deposit slips and make deposits during business hours. Meanwhile, BofA did nothing to prepare me for this change. I was surprised to find the new ATMs last night. Imagine my joy last night, at 10 PM, cold and windy, standing there for an hour, with $3000 in checks and cash in my hand, depositing one item at a time.
Will I eventually be charged for teller transactions so I can make deposits? It wouldn’t surprise me.
These things scan really slowly. I wonder if they scan cash slowly on purpose, because the bank doesn’t want to be bothered with small cash deposits.
I wonder if the bank wants to make the customer exclusively responsible for data entry for deposits. If so, the bank will probably charge customers a hefty fee for making an innocent error when entering the amount of a deposit. Of course, absurdly large fees for small customer errors is already a big source of revenue for the bank.
These new ATMs save the bank money, by reducing the need for data entry. Of course, the savings will be passed on to me, the customer, right?
I agree with Tim. These new machines are a nightmare for small business owners with many checks to deposit. And I just KNOW BofA won’t start charging me fees because I’ll have to start taking my deposits inside…! Yet another reduction in service being marketed as an improvement.
These new ATMs aren’t just horrible for small business owners but for general customers.
These machines require checks to be in pristine condition or they will not accept them. Think back to 1980’s vending machines that take dollar bills.
I tried to cash a check 5 times before giving up. This is not an added convenience to customers. It’s a method for BofA to cut their bottomline and fool people into believing they’re getting a “higher standard.”
Obviously not everyone will have a perfect experience, but the attitude that a company like BofA only upgrades to new technology to “cut their bottomline [sic] and fool people” is extremely naïve. This kind of change can’t be implemented overnight on a whim. One can feel reasonably safe in the assumption that they chose this new ATM in response to the needs of their customers, the majority of whom seem to be quite satisfied with it.
Like any new technology, there’s room for improvement, and in this day and age, you can be sure that this technology will advance much faster than the vending machines of the 80s. You small business owners may have to take your checks inside for a while (since that’s always been an option, I don’t see how you can declare the new ATMs a “reduction in service”), or simply make more frequent deposits, but it’s not the end of the world. It will get better, I promise.
And if you find a particular check doesn’t successfully deposit after 2 tries, the smart thing to do is not to keep shoving it into the ATM that clearly can’t read it. Take it inside, genius.
not all bank of america customers are in convienent vicinity of the bank itself, so when the ATM spits your check out at you like its no good, it gets frusturating. This happend to me, so i then went to an older ATM, and it had no envelopes. Thanks bank of america!
These machines SUCK. They have eaten my cash and given me the wrong balance 3 different times. I had to fight to get it back each time. I just left B of A after 12 years. I take my money seriously. Apparently they don’t.
THE SAME THING HAPPEN TO ME TODAY. THE ATM ATE MY CHECK WITH OUT DISPENSING ANY RECEIPT. NEED TO FILE CLAIM NOW. I HATE THE MACHINES!
There appear to be more bad experiences with the new ATMS than good ones.
It really depends on how often you make deposits and whether or not the night depository is close by.
In the small village I live in, there are two ATMS - only one actually takes deposits. There is NO branch or night depository. Therefore, if the machine won’t accept my check, I have to drive 6 miles to the nearest branch to make the deposit. With the old machines, it would always take them.
My solution: if the ATM can’t scan the check, then have the user type in the amount of the check. Simple.
Now this doesn’t solve the problem of having 40 or 50 checks and the slow process, but it does solve the problem of the machine refusing to take a check because it can’t scan it.
Another solution: Design the machine so the user has the choice to either scan the checks or use an envelope.
I agree with Bob. I think the new machines have a purpose but they were not tested enough in the beginning.
When depositing checks I have more problems than not. I have to go inside the bank now more than I ever have in the past because a single check is not scannable.
I’m all for moving forward, but not at the cost of losing abilities we used to have. Give me back envelopes for the checks that cannot be scanned and I’ll be happy.
“Bethany” must work for BOA. SHE is the one who naive. These new machines SUCK. Maybe if enough of us “little guys” take our business elsewhere, BOA (who OWNS just about EVERYTHING now) maybe they will do something. I have been a customer for 20 years (started with Standard Federal, then it was LaSalle, now BOA)…no problems til it became BOA. Customer service is non-existant (on-line, on the phone) and most of us (cept maybe “Bethany”) use ATM’s for CONVENIENCE..like at night or during busy bank times. So if you have to be a “genius” and GO IN, what is the point?
I will not be using the new ATMs (which I rec’d NO prior knowledge, yet you should see the CRAP BOA DOES keep sending me on “keep the change” and other useless stuff).
I will be switching accounts next week.
Hi, “Laura.” I’ve never worked for a bank, actually — I’ve worked for an insurance agency, a storage and organization store, and most recently, a fleet card management company, but never a bank.
If you read closely, you’ll notice I never called anyone naïve. I generally refrain from calling people names, especially strangers I don’t know, who may in fact be reasonable and altogether pleasant people who just happen to disagree with me on a minor point.
It most certainly is naïve to believe that a large service-oriented company with plenty of competition for the same market share takes action just to make life harder for its customers. As I said, the new ATM technology isn’t perfect yet, but just like other forms of technology, it will improve, and there are other options in the meantime.
I haven’t shared your experience with “non-existant [sic]” customer service. In fact, I’ve been quite pleased with just about every aspect of BofA. Of course, these things vary, and not everyone is happy with change. I’m sure they thought of that, and planned for a certain number of customers to leave over this change, but I’m not one of them.
These machines are now rolling out in Michigan, and I have to agree with many of the posters here - the machines will NOT read certain checks and now I have to go inside on business hours to cash it. I haven’t been inside of a bank to cash a check in 10 years - now I have to again. Nice upgrade.
Ok so for everyone who’s complaining about the machines not reading, you might be putting it in the wrong way. Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous, but this happened to the first time I went in to deposit a check after the “upgrade.”
I looked around for envelopes for about 5 minutes before noticing the “No more envelopes” fliers lying around. Then I proceeded to deposit the check. It spat it out like 4 times and I was about to leave (Bank was closed) but then I fed it in the opposite direction I’d been doing it and it went in.
I agree with Laura about the lack of a heads up. I get A LOT about all sorts of other crap but no one mentioned new ATMs or that the checks needed to be fed in a certain way.
I mean a little picture of your check is cute n all but people DON’T have an hour to figure out how to get that little picture and frankly no one’s going to frame it.