The Bank of Queensland, which achieved record profits in 2003, is one of Australia's fastest growing financial institutions. It has 130 branches throughout rural, regional and metropolitan Queensland, with one further Queensland branch scheduled to open in 2003 as well as plans to establish 100 new branches in New South Wales and Victoria in the next three years.

Bank of Queensland Managing Director, David Liddy comments, "The new ATMs, which replaced an almost 20-year old fleet, are a vital element in what has proved to be a potent mix in the competitive financial services market.

"We are acutely aware that ATMs are many customers' most frequent point of contact with the bank. Our new Diebold ATMs are at the cutting edge of ATM technology, and include design features that appeal to customers and potential customers.

"More importantly, they are easier to use and much more secure. These features make our ATMs a channel for delivering the improved levels of customer service that, we believe, underpins our continued market growth," says Mr Liddy.

The bank chose Diebold to supply and install the ATMs following a competitive tender. The decision to partner with Diebold was based on the company offering the best overall solution, service and support. Features of the new ATMs include:

• New larger and sun-glare resistant screens
• Easy to use and inviting interface
• Increased lighting
• State-of-the-art security features, including Triple DES (3DES) PIN pads which scramble PINs three times during transaction processing to minimise the risk of hackers being able to capture PINs from the ATM

To protect the bank's investment, Diebold has installed ATMs with a modular design that facilitates easy upgrades to hardware or software as required.

Reg Bohler, Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand of Diebold comments, "Diebold is delighted that this implementation has been acknowledged by our global association, the ATMIA, with a Best Practice Deployment Award.

"This award recognises the bank's work in making its ATM network a key element in drives to boost customer satisfaction via increased levels of service.

"Diebold is pleased to have partnered with the bank in this successful deployment. It was an ambitious schedule - however, by working together with the bank we have achieved all major milestones for installation and maintenance. In short, the new ATMs are fulfilling their function as high-service, high profile points of customer contact for Bank of Queensland customers," concludes Mr Bohler.