NATIONWIDE has revealed more than 1,300 new ATMs will be designed to make banking easier for people who are visually impaired.

Yesterday the building society, which has its headquarters in Pipers Way, unveiled its latest talking cash machine at its Regent Street branch.

The new machines will eventually be rolled out across the country.

Plugging ear phones into the machine will activate a talk-over, which guides the user through entering their pin code and selecting a service while ensuring that customers keep their details safe and secure.

The machine can also store ‘favourites’, which means that the computer system will remember what amount of cash a person prefers to withdraw at a single time and offer that.

Jenny Groves, the divisional director of customer experience at Nationwide, said: “We launched our first talking ATM about two years ago and since then we have been trialing it and then installing machines in branches across the country.

“At Nationwide we have invested in a number of solutions to support all the needs of all our customers.

“Although these talking ATMs are specifically there for people with visual impairments we also have hearing loops in place for those who have hearing difficulties and we do work hard to make sure we are meeting everyone’s needs.”

During the past three years Nationwide has invested £18.5m into developing the technology designed to keep those with visual impairments ecure while accessing their accounts through ATMs.

Part of the work involved working closely with the Royal National Institute Of Blind People to ensure the new machines met users’ needs.

Jenny said: “About three years ago we started to work very closely with the RNIB to come up with a solution to help support people with visual impairments.

“It’s not just for blind people it’s for anybody with any sort of visual impairment, and many of our customers have this kind of disability and it’s important to us to make sure that we are meeting their needs and helping them to secure their details.

“We try to cater for the needs of all our customers and this is just one technology which we are rolling out.”