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Citigroup Inc. plans soon to begin a pilot during which customers can make surcharge-free deposits at certain ATMs located in 7-Eleven Inc. convenience stores, Mark Gilder, Citibank ATM and remittance business manager, consumer banking products, said yesterday at the ATM, Debit & Prepaid Forum in Chandler, Ariz. The test eventually will involve 900 of the 2,200 Citi-branded multifunctional ATMs, or Vcoms, that Cardtronics Inc. purchased from the Dallas-based convenience-store chain last year, he said. The Vcoms enable customers whose financial institutions have an agreement with Cardtronics to make deposits at the machines. Citi is scheduled to begin the pilot before the end of the year in Alameda County, Calif., Gilder told CardLine sister publication ATM&Debit News at the forum. Oakland is Alameda County's largest city. Citi plans to use the test to determine how its customers react to being able to make deposits at ATMs located in 7-Eleven stores and whether educational materials are needed to facilitate the deposits, Gilder says. "The key measure, however, will be deposit volume," he says.
