CARROLLTON, Texas:Â AmStar Systems Inc., a Texas self-service financial kiosk manufacturer, announced in a news release its new fully automated check-cashing ATM, which will be available in late summer 2005.
Carole H. Haynes, vice president of sales and marketing for AmStar Systems, said "The AmStar eca$hier financial services kiosk has been designed to totally eliminate the need for a backroom office to handle customer identification and the check approval process.
"After the check is cleared in real time, according to Check 21 guidelines, the customer then receives his cash from the machine, rather than having to take a voucher to a service desk to pick up his cash," Haynes said. "This automated feature sets AmStar's terminal apart from other check cashing terminals in the marketplace that are only partially self-service."
To identify the check-cashing customer, AmStar has designed a self-service terminal that uses a PIN-based prepaid debit card.
To obtain the debit card for check cashing, the customer must answer questions on the eca$hier kiosk screen for I.D. verification and an OFAC scan as required by the Patriot Act. If the customer is approved, the machine dispenses the PIN-based debit card and the customer can continue with the check-cashing process.
Haynes explained that the customer has the option of receiving all or part of his check in cash or he can load it onto the debit card. This latter option offers security to the person who otherwise might have to carry large sums of cash to pay for groceries, gas, clothes, etc.
In addition to cashing checks, the kiosk also allows money transfers and the sale of money orders.
"Listen to the market place," Haynes said, "and you will find much interest in providing a variety of automated financial services for the large percentage of unbanked citizens in the U.S. so they can have the same type of conveniences, and at a reasonable cost, that are available to the banked population."
