National City And National Federation Of The Blind Announce Plans To Install Voice-Guided ATMs At All Locations CLEVELAND, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- National City Corporation and the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) today announced the further rollout of voice-guidance capabilities to all National City automated teller machine (ATM) locations throughout National City's six-state marketplace. National City Corporation owns and operates approximately 1,580 ATMs throughout Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgibin/prnh/20030428/NATIONALCITYLOGO ) Building on the earlier success in providing voice guidance on all of its newly-deployed ATMs, National City has announced plans to provide voice guidance on all of its ATMs over the next thirty months. Customers seeking to find the location of the nearest voice-guided ATM can visit National City's Web site ( http://www.nationalcity.com/ ), designed to meet the needs of all customers, including blind persons. Voice-guided ATMs provide step-by-step audio instructions that guide customers through bank transactions without assistance. Personal headphones are plugged into a universal audio jack installed in the ATM to access the voice-guided technology employed in these ATMs. "ATMs without access to the instructions on the display panel -- necessary to complete the most common ATM transactions -- force customers who are blind to rely on others to assist them. But today's technology makes that unnecessary," explains Dr. Marc Maurer, President, National Federation of the Blind. The NFB commends National City for its commitment to provide greater financial independence to blind people in the United States. Barbara Pierce, NFB of Ohio president, praised the partnership between the NFB and National City that resulted in the announcement. "All too often the needs of blind customers or employees get overlooked. This commitment can be a model for all companies wishing to help assure that blind citizens have full access to technology and the resources to act independently." In October 2002, the Cleveland Chapter of the NFB honored National City as the first bank to offer talking ATMs in the city. "Providing the technology to help sight-impaired customers with their ATM banking needs reflects National City's continued commitment to doing what is right for the customer. This feature is a cornerstone of plans to upgrade all of the ATMs across our six-state franchise. The success of bringing voice guidance to our ATMs is a testament to the collaboration we enjoy with a number of visually impaired advocacy groups, including the NFB and its membership," said Sarah Hartman, executive vice president of National City Bank. About the NFB The National Federation of the Blind ( http://www.nfb.org/ ), with more than 50,000 members and 700 local and state affiliates and chapters, is the largest and most influential membership organization of blind people in the United States. As a consumer and advocacy organization, NFB is the leading force in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation's blind. About National City National City Corporation, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is one of the nation's largest financial holding companies. The company operates through an extensive distribution network primarily in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, and also serves customers in selected markets nationally. Its businesses include commercial and retail banking, consumer finance, asset management, mortgage financing and servicing, and payment processing. For more information abut National City Corporation, visit the company's Web site at http://www.nationalcity.com/ . http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030428/NATIONALCITYLOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: National City Corporation CONTACT: Media Relations, Amber Garwood of National City, +1-216-222-8202, or ; or Patricia Maurer, Community Relations Director of NFB, +1-410-659-9314, ext. 272, or Web site: http://www.nationalcity.com/ http://www.nfb.org/

Copyright