A first-timer's guide to Super-ATMs
By Jay MacDonald • Bankrate.com

 

The first time you cash a check at a Super-ATM may seem a little scary. After all, you're used to taking money out of the machine, not parting ways with something as valuable as your weekly paycheck or a personal draft. Here's how it works:

Step One: Registration If you're at your bank's ATM, they already have you in their database. If the ATM doesn't know you, you'll need to register. "Companies do it differently," says Ann All, editor of ATMmagazine.com. "Some companies enroll you through a call center. It takes five to 10 minutes, they do some identity checks and then you are entered into their database. From then on, you are in their system." To use the SmartCash ATM from Check Central, one of several companies deploying new Super-ATMs, you must fill out an application and actually feed it into the Super-ATM. It is scanned and the information is sent electronically to Check Central's manned monitoring center. There, the information you just provided is verified: Who you are, who your employer is, whether they have a checking account, etc. The machine then takes your photo, which also enters the company's database. Within a few days, you receive a membership card and PIN number to use for future transactions.

Step Two: Check-cashing Armed with your new card and PIN number, you return to the machine. Your photo is taken as you insert your check. The moment the draft enters the machine, it is scanned. The information, including various check numbers and bank coding, is then run through 130 algorithms that determine whether the machine will cash your check. You would be turned down if you were neither the payer or payee on the check; you cannot cash a check for someone else, for instance. You could be turned down or delayed if the service provider does not recognize the payer. Other unforeseen circumstances can sometimes delay the transaction as well, according to Check Central president Lee Swanson. "If a person had been cashing a check in Santa Ana, the employer is in Santa Ana and the bank is in New York City, that will satisfy the algorithm," he says. "But if a person is on vacation and tries to cash the check in Denver, we would have to talk." Talk? That's right. Super-ATMs feature a direct telephone line to a 24-hour staffed customer service center, where glitches can be resolved, often within minutes.

Step three: The payoff Your Super-ATM will deduct a fee for cashing the check and deliver the balance to the penny. According to All, independent ATM check cashing fees tend to run several percentage points below the storefront check cashing outlets, which vary widely state to state. A scanned image of each check and information on the transaction are stored in a company database. Some Super-ATMs actually print a reduced image of the check on your receipt as sa comfort gesture. With Check Central's SmartCash machine, you can purchase Western Union money orders with your check and receive the change in cash. The company plans to add phone cards, too, as well as a currency acceptor so customers can pay in cash for its products. Jay MacDonald is a free-lance writer based in Florida -- Posted: Nov. 9, 1999