EscucharSAN JOSE - Until yesterday, when Elsa Picado used an automatic teller, she had to resort to intuition and, if she made a mistake, she had to ask somebody to help her.
However, this blind woman had no trouble to withdraw some money from the Banco Popular account by using the new special automatic teller for the blind that the Costa Rican state bank began operating yesterday.
``This is an excellent option for us... It gives us more security,'' Picado said after she became the first person to use the device, which is located at the bank's main building on Second Avenue.
According to the assistant manager for commercial banking from Banco Popular, Agustín Barquero, the teller was purchased following a formal request from the Costa Rican Foundation for the Blind.
The teller uses a voice system to guide the user through the different steps and a Braille keyboard that enables the blind to correctly enter their identification number and the amount to withdraw.
The teller was made in the United States and it cost $44,750, $2,500 more than the regular ones.
Barquero pointed out that it is the first of its kind in Latin America and that because of the voice directions it will be useful too for people who have difficulty with these machines, such as children and the elderly with sight problems.
