All I Want for Christmas Is My Own ATM

What’s the perfect holiday gift for the child who has everything? Perhaps it’s the Triton model 9600 automated teller machine, now retailing for $20,000 at FAO Schwarz.

It’s the same machine that convenience store owners buy for anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 and install next to the deli counter, but now, parents can get it customized — their child’s name on the screen, for instance — and trucked directly to their homes (sorry, gift wrap is not available).

The “Personal ATM” hit the market Oct. 10, when FAO Schwarz put out paper and online catalogues featuring the real-life, honest-to-goodness, commercial cash dispenser that people can buy for their homes. A network connection is optional, and, yes, parents can set their own surcharge rates.

At four and a half feet high and 270 pounds, the Personal ATM will be hard to fit under the tree, but FAO Schwarz calls it “the ultimate expression of freedom and independence,” perfect for children ages 8 to 11. Though parents must stock the machine with money, FAO Schwarz boasts, “Now you don’t have to run to the bank on a daily basis, or pay those exorbitant transaction fees when you can’t find the machine you need.”

In an apparent marketing triumph, this gadget being sold as a super-high-end toy for pampered youths is generally considered the low end of the ATM totem pole. Its manufacturer, Triton Systems of Long Beach, Miss., describes it as “the workhorse of the ATM industry.” More advanced models, like the Triton 9700 or 9800, still cost a fraction of the Personal ATM.

Some of the markup on the FAO Schwarz ATM seems to be related to the customization features being offered: not only can the family surname or a child’s name appear prominently on the front of the machine, but the buyer also gets 10 “personalized ATM cards.” The item will be unpacked and installed by professionals who normally place them in stores.

Even the man who came up with the idea admits the product is unlikely to push Barbie off the shelves.

“Do we think we’ll sell a lot? No,” said Charlie Samons, vice president of sales and marketing at Access To Money, an independent sales organization in Whippany, N.J., that sells Triton ATMs to merchants. “I think we’ll sell a couple. It’s a pure novelty item.”

He said the idea of an ATM as a children’s gift grew out of a stray comment at the Christmas party Mr. Samons’ sister, Linda Rosner, throws every year. A party guest, Debbie Hantmann, came up with the idea, and Ms. Rosner, a manufacturing representative for FAO Schwarz and other companies, shared it with another party guest, David Niggli, the chief operating officer and director of merchandising for FAO Schwarz.

“David’s knee-jerk reaction was, ‘great,’ ” Mr. Samons recalled. The companies later turned the proposal into a formal business deal.

Since most schoolchildren do not clamor for an ATM of their own, Mr. Samons said he envisions a prospective buyer will be “some wealthy guy who wants to teach his children how to manage money and put them on allowance.”

The FAO Schwarz ATM can dispense play money or real money, and can be set up to impose daily withdrawal limits. It could even be hooked into an ATM network, just like a merchant ATM — though parents would have to adhere to network rules about displaying proper signage, and so forth.

“There are no bank regs that say you can’t have a working ATM at home,” Mr. Samons said.

Access To Money is in charge of shipping the Personal ATMs to the lucky children’s homes and setting them up. It has installed teller machines in all sorts of venues, including the 1999 Woodstock rock concert and Giants Stadium in New Jersey, said Mr. Samons, who spoke with a reporter by cell phone from St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, where he was contracting with merchants for ATMs.

FAO Schwarz is hardly known as a discount store, but the $20,000 price tag on the Personal ATM is high even by its standards. For instance, the Gas Powered Mercedes 500SL, a three-speed car with rack-and-pinion steering that seats two youngsters and is, in the retailer’s description, “so sophisticated it could be street-legal,” costs only $12,000. The 140th Anniversary Steiff Rocking Bear is a mere $1,500.

When Triton president Ernest L. Burdette heard the asking price for the Triton 9600 Personal ATM, he said: “Holy smokes. Maybe they’re dressing it up really nicely.” As with a customized van, he guessed, “You pay extra for the features.”

Beyond the manufacturing of the machine, Triton has nothing to do with the toy’s customization or pricing. But Mr. Burdette said he would pay attention to how sales go. “Certainly we want to reach every sector of the market,” he said. “If there is a home market, we’d want to be part of it. But I wouldn’t bet on too many of these being sold at this price.”

Then again, said Bill Jackson, a Triton spokesman, “If you are a person who has an ATM at your house, you probably don’t care how much it costs.”