Ball State University students will have easier access to their financial accounts when an automated teller machine is installed in the Art and Journalism Building Atrium this week, university officials said.
Thomas Kinghorn, vice president of business affairs, said the Ball State Federal Credit Union ATM located on the first floor of the L.A. Pittenger Student Center will move to an alcove west of the Ball State Bookstore in the Atrium Wednesday or Thursday. The machine will be available as soon as possible, Kinghorn said.
"When the building was designed, we had that as the location for a future ATM, and the future, I guess, is now," Kinghorn said.
The university planned for the ATM's placement in the Atrium because of the Art and Journalism Building's central location on campus, he said.
"I don't know if the traffic in the building became such that it was required, and evidently in the student center there was an opportunity to move one from the student center," Kinghorn said. "The Atrium is a great place to locate an ATM, so that's an appropriate move at this point."
The university issued Requests for Proposals to the Ball State Federal Credit Union and other financial institutions interested in installing an ATM in the Atrium. Recently, the credit union was judged to be the best selection for the university, Kinghorn said.
"I assume it was based on the service they would provide and the university's experience with them in other locations," Kinghorn said.
An Old National Bank ATM remains on the Student Center's ground level near the hotel, thus providing students with access to their accounts on the south end of campus, Steve Geraci, president of the Student Government Association, said.
With the Ball State Bookstore and some of the university's most popular eating places located in the Atrium, moving the ATM to the center of campus is a good idea, Geraci said. He said the move will especially benefit Ball State Federal Credit Union customers, who will gain convenience without the additional fee, he said.
"We thought an ATM in the Atrium made a lot of sense," Geraci said. "It gives [students] access to their money so they can spend it in the bookstore or on the good food."
The campaign platform for "Team Us," Geraci's slate during the SGA election last spring, included installing an ATM in the Art and Journalism Building. Geraci, however, said SGA does not take credit for the ATM's installation.
"SGA is in no way claiming credit for this," Geraci said. "The actual mechanisms for this came from business affairs. We would like to know we had some impact in this, but there's now way we can know for sure."
With installation costs being handled by the credit union, the ATM's new place will be financially beneficial for students, staff and faculty, Kinghorn said.
"I think it's a very popular way for people to do banking because of the convenience," he said.
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