SBI plans special ATMs for visually challenged

Mumbai, Jan 8: In a commendable initiative, State Bank of India (SBI) is installing voice-enabled ATMs across India to cater to visually challenged customers.

The installation is expected to begin in Feb 2010, a senior SBI official informed at a CII-seminar.

"Out of our 18,500 ATMs, 7,000 will be made voice enabled for visually challenged people. We expect to launch these talking ATMs starting next month," SBI's General Manager (Alternate Channels) Amitabh Kumar said.

The voice-enabled machines with headphones and braille key pads, will offer services like fund transfer and downloading of account statements, Kumar said.

He added that SBI is currently testing these voice-enabled ATMs with its partners NCR and Diebold.

These machines will be installed in metro, urban and semi urban towns across the country.

OneIndia News