Minneapolis Star-Tribune: U.S. Bancorp is testing a new breed of ATM it calls "the Prodigy."
Among the new features of the Windows-based ATMs are the ability for users to customize their transaction preferences and the capability of accepting checks directly without envelopes and then producing a receipt with check images. The Prodigy can also tap into customers' account information and then pitch particular products -- from credit cards to home equity lines of credit -- to them.
"If the old machine was like an Atari, this one is more like an Xbox," said Patty Henneke, ATM banking manager at U.S. Bancorp.
In the past two months, U.S. Bancorp has installed 49 of the machines in four of its largest markets -- the Twin Cities, Cincinnati, Phoenix and Portland. Before rolling out the machines elsewhere, the bank wants to analyze how customers use them to determine which features they like.
"That machine is telling us more than any focus group," Henneke said. (Subscription required)
