METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATED CASHING OF CHECKS

A customer at an enrollment section (12) uses a self-dial telephone (14) to make a toll-free call to a customer service operator at a workstation (26). The operator activates a check-cashing card (18) obtained by the customer at the enrollment section, which includes enrolling a checking account against which the customer wishes to cash checks. The customer can subsequently use the activated card with automatic teller machines (57) to cash checks in transactions that are entirely automated, and that do not require the customer to have funds available for withdrawal from an institutional account. Each automatic teller machine interacts with a switch system (42), which in turn interacts with a host system (37), in order to determine whether to proceed with the check-cashing transaction. If authorization is granted, a dispense amount is determined by deducting one or more fees from the amount of the check, and the customer is then paid the dispense amount in cash.