Automatic teller machines have come a long way. The new ones I use at Bank of America scan checks and cash automatically, with no envelope required, and let me confirm the amount of my deposit before it is processed. Cool. Efficient. I love it.
But there’s still something missing.
My ATM card is getting old, and the magnetic strip is wearing down. Every now and then this causes problems at a point of sale location, but in those cases I just have them run my purchase as credit instead of debit by punching in the card information manually. No big deal, it all comes out of the same account automatically.
The other day the ATM itself didn’t read my card. This might have been very inconvenient as I was in Boston past midnight and needed cash to get my car out of the parking garage. Fortunately the card finally worked. But this led me to wonder, why can’t you punch your ATM card number into the machines in cases like these? I imagine that I’m not the only one whose card is wearing down.
I know technology is moving forward quickly, but sometimes we miss the small steps along the way.
AfriGadget
Kiva