By Rita Giordano, The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS)
The bank that prides itself on being “Unexpectedly Human” just got Unexpectedly Canine.
TD Bank’s South Broad Street branch recently installed a special ATM just for its doggy patrons. But in this case, instead of Automated Teller Machine, ATM stands for Automated Treat Machine.
Canine customers just walk up to the machine, which looks a lot like a regular bright green TD machine. It doesn’t take a debit card. Instead, Fluffy or Fido just steps on a motion-sensor-operated paw-pad, and the ATM dispenses a dog biscuit into a waiting TD dog bowl.
It’s a new amenity at a financial institution which, like more and more businesses, has found it makes sense to welcome their human customers’ furry friends.
“We’ve always had special treats for our four-legged friends. A lot of our customers never want to leave their dogs at home or in the car,” said Ricardo Carrion, TDretail market manager for the Philadelphia region. “We were trying to find new and innovative ways of trying to connect with our customers, and this was definitely one of them.”
The ATM is designed to be welcoming to its pup users. Its screen is even an inviting video of various dogs and other images of canine interest — a scampering squirrel, a hovering hummingbird, a green tennis ball rolling across a lawn.
TD Bank’s branch at 2201 S. Broad Street was kind of strategically selected for the ATM’s debut. It’s an active TD in a residential area with a lot of dogs nearby. A dog park is right across the street.
“It is a very busy location,” Carrion said. “I don’t think there’s an hour that passes by that there’s not a customer in there with a pet.”
To mark the official rollout of the new feature, TD Bank and the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) held an adoption event at the branch on Saturday, April 13. There, lots of pups got to meet with prospective adopters and give the ATM a try.
“The dog ATM is such a cute idea,” said Allison Lamond, PAWS’ outreach and volunteer manager. “I think it is such a fun way to show customers, and their dogs, that they are appreciated in a very silly way.”
So far, TD Bank has gotten a lot of positive feedback about the pet ATM from their customers. Their dogs are liking it, too.
“They’ve definitely gone in for seconds and thirds, that’s for sure,” Carrion said.
Between the canine reception and human reaction, you may be seeing more of these treat-dispensing machines.
“This was definitely the first of its kind so we wanted to see how this went first,” said Carrion. “I think with the feedback we’ve been getting and the success we’ve been seeing, it is something we are looking to roll out further down the line.”
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