Benefits Summary:
The ATM's maximum transaction amount was raised without increasing the reload requirements for the machine.

Recently an innovative application of Diebold technology enabled Arkansas Federal Credit Union (AFCU) to meet member demand for a higher maximum transaction amount. With $225 million in total assets and over 52,000 members, Jacksonville-based AFCU is Arkansas' largest financial cooperative.

The credit union wanted to raise the maximum transaction from $300 to $500, but was concerned about increasing the reload requirements for the fourteen Diebold advanced-function ATMs in its branch offices. "At these machines, not only can members withdraw any amount of money out of their accounts, but they can also cash checks down to the penny," says Carla Davenport, Vice President of Marketing at AFCU. "We knew an increase in transaction size to $500 would result in a need for significantly more bills."

When Sacagawea golden dollars became available, the credit union had a solution: use the ATMs to dispense the one-dollar coins in lieu of ones bills, then use the existing dollar-bill cassette for fifty-dollar bills. Fortunately, the flexible design of Diebold ATMs made it easy to implement the plan.

"The ATMs had been doing coin dispensing for several years," explains Diebold representative Calvin Redding. "For AFCU, we simply changed out a module in the coin dispenser mechanism of the ATM so that it would dispense the dollars." After the hardware switch, all Diebold had to do was reconfigure the software to make the machines gold dollar-ready.

The program fosters goodwill.
In implementing this innovative approach, AFCU became the first financial institution in the country to dispense the newly minted dollar coins at an ATM. More important, it earned the appreciation of its members. Davenport reports that members are very pleased with the increased transaction capability. "It saves them from having to go repeatedly to the machine," she explains.

The program is also fostering good will and good humor among the membership. "The golden dollars are kind of a novelty item," reports Davenport. "A lot of people are giving them to their grandchildren." Of course, the credit union likes the reconfigured ATMs, too, because it has to restock paper currency of all denominations less frequently.

AFCU is taking advantage of the ATMs' 15-inch color screens to advertise the golden dollar and other programs, such as specials on car loans. It even uses the ATM screens to promote the machines themselves. "We like to tout the features of the ATM to try to get more people to use those as opposed to going to the lobby tellers," explains Davenport. "It frees up their time to do more complex member transactions."

Because of the modularity of Diebold ATMs, other financial institutions can easily implement strategies such as the golden dollar program at AFCU. As the needs of their customers change, and as technology evolves, so can their Diebold machines.