Newsroom

April 21, 2014

Post article: VTMs less costly than new branches

April 22, 2014 – Video teller machines are touted over brick and mortar for some institutions' expansion needs in an article by The Washington Post's Capital Business.

VTMs allow users to communicate face-to-face on screen and cost about the same as an ATM, the article says. The technology, which allows real-time communication between a financial institution and consumer, is described in the article as a less-costly way to deliver services more broadly.

The article is accompanied by a photo of a VTM transaction underway at a local credit union.

NAFCU has long urged NCUA to treat virtual teller machines as "service facilities" for purposes of certain expansions. In 2012, the agency wrote in a legal opinion letter to NAFCU that a VTM can qualify a service facility for purposes of satisfyingNCUAchartering rules regarding select-group additions and underserved areas.

The Post article, which ran Sunday, quotes Brian Bailey, a vice president at NCR (a NAFCU Services preferred partner), discussing smaller institutions' use of such machines to strengthen their presence. Bailey is quoted noting that community banks and credit unions are among the earliest users of VTMs but that larger banks, such as Bank of America and U.S. Bank, are also starting to use them.