New "Branch in a Box" Revamps the Future of ATMs

North Communications rolls out public-access touchscreen technology
to bring the bank to the customer.

LOS ANGELES, CA, July 20, 1998 � North Communications, the leader in multimedia self-service technology, today unveiled the next generation of its "branch in a box," the self-service touchscreen technology that puts financial services at the fingertips of customers from convenient public locations.

The product, called TouchTeller FS100, is a virtual bank. Users can access TouchTeller FS100 from public locations such as grocery stores, shopping malls and business and retail locations to do their banking. The technology looks like an ATM but comes loaded with many more financial capabilities.

TouchTeller FS100�s on-screen host speaks to the bank customer and credit union member in stereo sound using full-color video. The unit takes up less than six feet of floor space and contains a computer that links users to all facets of their financial institutions with a tap on the screen.

The touch of a finger also connects users with a live customer service representative who can walk them through their financial transactions, including:

  • New accounts
  • Account inquiries
  • Cash dispensing
  • Check ordering and stop payment
  • Loan applications
  • Value-added Internet content/services

An auto-dial feature allows dial-up video teleconferencing with a customer service representative from any location within the application. Users also can access information about their bank or credit union on the World Wide Web when tapping into TouchTeller FS100.

"It�s like walking into a bank, but it�s closer to home. It�s the wave of the future in the world of financial services," says Rick Rommel, senior vice president of marketing for North Communications. "TouchTeller FS100 breathes life into the next generation ATM. This, our latest innovation in touch technology, allows financial institutions to expand their points-of-presence to reach their customers where they live, work and play. And customers feel completely �in touch� with their banks and credit unions, as they can tap into them anytime, anyplace."

North provides end-to-end TouchTeller FS100 solutions for banks and credit unions. The company makes turnkey solution software, builds the hardware, installs and services the systems, and provides network operations and integration to bank mainframe systems and to the World Wide Web.

North already has entered into a strategic partnership with DataCard Corporation to integrate North�s touchscreen technology components with a new line of retail banking solutions. DataCard Corporation, a privately held company based in Minneapolis, MN, provides customers around the world with fully integrated solutions for a variety of financial, identification and health care applications.

"TouchTeller FS100 is the 21st century bank," says Paul Kennedy, president and CEO of North Communications. "This type of technology is crucial at a time when forecasts say that 60 percent of Americans will not have a home computer and a modem by the year 2000. For them, on-line banking would be impossible. TouchTeller does the impossible for them. "

Based in Marina del Rey, CA, North Communications is a designer, manufacturer and operator of transactional kiosk networks for the public and private sectors. The company is known especially for its award-winning work in ground-breaking government projects in California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Florida, Washington, DC and New York, and internationally in Australia, Canada, Malaysia and Singapore. You can find more information on the Web at www.infonorth.com.


For more information, please contact:

Megan McDonnell Theresa Laird
Environics Communications North Communications
(203) 325-8772, ext. 14 (310) 577-7700, ext. 7305
[email protected] [email protected]


Thanks Kinetic!

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