Digital Gadgets

Japanese bank to allow cell phone in Engadget ATM access

Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Bank plans to let customers start accessing ATMs via cellphone this fall, but that doesn’t mean just dialing for cash. The bank will use NTT’s FeliCa e-wallet, a near-field communication system similar to one being tested by Cingular in Atlanta. Phones will be equipped with a special chip that will be able to communicate with the ATM. Customers will still be required to enter a PIN or password, so cellphone thieves won’t have access to accounts unless they also know the user’s PIN.

I received the following announcement from PNC Bank announcing the ending of cell-phone ATM access and the ntroduction of talking ATM’s. There is a list of locations at the end of the document. The
announcement seems to have been sent to those who participated in the cell-phone ATM access program.

The bank is headquartered in Pittsburgh and operates one of the largest ATM networks in America with more than 2,000 machines. In 1999, the bank was sued for failing to provide talking ATM’s. In January, 2001, a class action settlement was reached, pending court approval, and a pilot project initiated to provide ATM access for the blind through live operators reading ATM screens to blind end users listening to cell
phones at the machines. End users experienced lengthy waits to receive cell phones, long transaction processing times, frequent ATM time outs, inaccurate instructions, and botched transactions. In fall 2001, the blind community, through its leaders and national organizations, rejected this approach entirely through objections to the settlement filed in federal district court in Pittsburgh. The bank and those bringing the lawsuit withdrew the settlement before the court ruled on the objections.

Sumitomo Mitsui is the first national Japanese bank to offer cellphone access to ATMs; a smaller bank, Ogaki Kyoritsu, began offering a similar service in 2004, and NTT set up an experimental cellphone-accessible ATM the same year.