An internet bank is promising to make overcharging at high-street cash machines a thing of the past when it launches the world's first personal ATM onto the UK market at the start of next month.
Using tracking technology developed by Soviet scientists at the end of the cold war, Yourbackpocket.com says it can install a cash dispenser in the space beneath a CD-rom or DVD drive on a desktop PC for under £250 at cost.
As part of a profile-raising exercise before its planned Techmark flotation, the Easdaq-listed company has announced plans to offer the personal ATM free to customers with over £2,500 in their current account in a bid to catch the cash-rich, time-poor market sought eagerly by the entrepreneurs of the new economy.
Chief executive Chris Taylor, a former management consultant with a paper fortune estimated at over £13m, insists that the bank can succeed if it secures an early place in the market.
"We've got the staff, we've got the technology, now we've got to give the product the push it needs. But it's not sink or swim - we've got powerful backers, so I see no reason why we can't be the Amazon.com of the desk-top cash dispenser," he says.
A satellite tracking system will notify the bank if one of its personal cash machines is moved out of a designated five-metre zone. And as a final precaution against theft, a security device is primed to incinerate the cash if anyone attempts to open the dispenser without the correct authorisation codes.
The entrepeneur responds to accusations that the company is literally burning money by pointing out that many dot.coms write five-year losses into their business plans. He says few hope to ever make the profits suggested by their stock-market value.
In addition, the bank has taken out corporate insurance against theft and fire, and expects to make enough revenue from a range of personal finance partnerships and onsite advertising to cover their losses.
But the promise of a life free from cash-machine charges will no doubt be Yourbackpocket.com's greatest asset. A report last week into UK banking revealed that customers were being overcharged by up to £5bn a year. The inquiry team, headed by former telecommunications regulator Don Cruickshank, called for a radical shake up of the sector.
"Other banks want to get your money, cream off a handsome profit for themselves and then charge you to get your hands on your money. We don't do that. We just want to put it in Yourbackpocket.com," Mr Taylor remarked.
The UK online banking sector has to date been hampered by high-street cash-machine charges. Few internet banks have a physical presence, and their customers are forced to pay up to £1.50 per transaction when they withdraw money from the Link network.
Useful links
Easdaq, the pan-European stock market
The London stock exchange's Techmark
