Elderly have problems with bank ATMs

By Phil Williams

Ever talked back to an automatic teller machine? Even the most technologically savvy bank customers sometimes have trouble understanding the maze of options available. Most people keep trying until they solve the problems, but for one group--the elderly--using ATMs often just doesn't add up.

A new study by Wendy Rogers of the psychology department shows that banks may be losing the elderly as ATM customers and that education and machine redesign could be the best hope for bringing them back.

All ages need training
"Most systems designers and bank officers assume that ATMs are inherently easy to use and require no training," says Rogers. "But evidence shows that users of all ages have problems using ATMs initially when no training is provided, and that older adults have problems even after training."

The study, co-authored by Kristen Gilbert of Pepperdine University and Elizabeth Fraser Cabrera of the Universidad Carlos III in Madrid, was published recently in the journal Applied Ergonomics. Gilbert and Cabrera were at the University of Memphis and Georgia Tech, respectively, when the study was done.

Little prior research
Automatic teller machines have been around for more than 20 years, but very little research has been done on how well older adults use them. In a 1996 study, in which some 9,000 individuals in Memphis and Atlanta were surveyed, Rogers found that only a third of the respondents over 65 used ATMs.

The current study was done in two parts. First, Rogers and her colleagues performed telephone interviews with 100 individuals, 50 from Atlanta and 50 from Memphis. They ranged in age from 61 to 81; 44 were males and 56 were females. The interviews assessed age and sex differences and collected information from non-ATM users about why they chose not to use the machines.

The second part consisted of more detailed interviews with 24 of the 100 people interviewed in the first round.

"These studies were designed to allow the older adults to tell us what they knew about ATMs, whether or not they felt comfortable using them, and, for non-users, why they did not use ATMs," says Rogers.

Suggestions offered
At the conclusion of the study, Rogers and her colleagues were able to offer a number of suggestions regarding older adults and ATMs. Banks should consider ways to:

• Improve lighting and use non-glare glass on the screens of ATMs in outdoor settings;
• Improve ways to correct errors, possibly by providing an "undo" function;
• Show options more clearly;
• Give customers more time to respond to options;
• Improve safety, possibly by providing a "panic button," which could allow users to call for help or set off an alarm or a camera.

"We randomly questioned 13 banks in the Memphis metropolitan area and found that only two provided brochures that showed the user how to operate the ATM, and those were cursory at best," says Rogers.