Australia’s major banks are about to equip their Automated Teller Machines with smart card, check imaging and ticketing capabilities. Pilots should be up and running by the end of the year. In 1999, expect to see airline ticketing, already widespread in the US and parts of Europe. NCR Corp will supply the new ATMs necessary for the pilots. Louis Madeley, NCR’s vice president of financial services business, told the Australian Financial Review that the new machines could be easily programmed for a variety of activities. We’re working on many ticketing initiatives – airline tickets, movie tickets, stamps – which order they come in the market will depend on which give the best returns, he told the paper. Many are quite low cost, so they’ll be here before the year’s out, he added. The only glitch, as far as the banks are concerned, is that no one yet has an entirely upgraded ATM network. Nevertheless, full ticketing functions are likely to be available across the board within 18 months.
