BNAmericas.com: Chilean banks are set to commence a process of upgrading the capabilities of their ATMs this year or in 2006 with the aim of further increasing self-service usage, NCR Chile and Peru's CEO Jorge Belmar told BNamericas.
Belmar said he believes some banks will add functions such as real-time cash and check deposits to help clear the long lines seen at their branches today. Presently in Chile, ATMs only accept deposits placed in an envelope and that makes many people reluctant to use that deposit option, he said.
Belmar said that during the last couple of years some of Chile's new consumer banks such as Banco Falabella and Banco Ripley have been the leaders in terms of ATM innovation, offering their own clients the possibility of paying the bills of their retail store parents at the ATMs.
He also said that Chilean banks are set to continue the trend of installing ATMs outside the bank branches.
