Bank of America's Teller Assist ATMs coming to Charlotte next month

Bank of America's new automated teller machines, which provide live video access to tellers, will come to Charlotte early next month after already being rolled out elsewhere in the U.S.

The branch at 3021 Prosperity Church Road will be the first among six locations where the Teller Assist ATMs will be available in Charlotte, bank spokeswoman Tara Burke said Friday. The Prosperity Road branch is in north Charlotte, about a mile and a half off Interstate 85.

The bank plans to put the machines in additional Charlotte locations between now and the middle of October, she said. The bank's flagship Founders Hall branch at Trade and Tryon streets and the Steele Creek branch at 12930 S. Tryon St. are among the other locations where the ATMs are planned to go.

The Teller Assist ATMs are so named because they allow customers who need help with a transaction to speak with a teller who appears on a screen that's built into the machines. Those tellers are stationed in call centers in Delaware and Florida. The ATMs provide access to tellers outside of normal banking hours, including Sundays.

Bank of America is rolling out the new machines as other banks are also upgrading their ATMs. For example, San Francisco-based Wells Fargo this year announced new machines that feature one-touch “favorites” buttons based on customers' ATMS habits. And, this week, Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services Group said it has completed upgrades to its Charlotte-area ATMs, which, among other things, allow cash and checks to be deposited without envelopes.

Banks are making their ATMs more high-tech at a time when many are reporting fewer customers heading to teller lines inside branches and more of their customers migrate to mobile devices and online.

The Teller Assist ATMs are coming to Charlotte at the same time Bank of America is eliminating drive-up teller service at some of its branches across the U.S., including six in the Charlotte region. The bank says too few people are using the drive-thru lanes.