Online payments. Electronic checks. ATMs that try to predict how much cash you might like to withdraw. Shoebox-sized devices that allow small businesses to make deposits without leaving the office.

		Touched by tech: The changing face of business From iPods to video cell phones to Palm Pilots and wireless laptops, we all know how technology has changed the way we live. But an even bigger change has occurred in the world of business -- a change that bodes well for our economy and our future livelihoods. Significant increases in productivity over the past decade in many ways reflect the payoff from businesses utilizing new technologies to improve the way they do business. In both little and big ways, technology is making this country more efficient. Starting yesterday and continuing through Saturday, the Post-Gazette will look at ways companies are using technology to change the way they do business. Steve Massey Business Editor Monday: No more phone trees Tuesday: Eat'n Park wants to know Wednesday: 'Paperless' medicine Thursday: Making steel smarter Friday: Building faster and better Today: Banking on computers

Technology is changing the way we bank in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services Group and Cleveland-based National City Corp., the two largest local financial institutions in terms of market share, are spending untold millions on bells and whistles designed to make the banking experience faster, more convenient and more secure for customers -- while trimming costs and speeding processing times.

Banks now require fewer people and less paper to handle daily business, and the hope is, "We're more efficient and effective," said Pat McMahon, a PNC spokesman.

The dramatic technological changes now rippling through modern-day banking began with the introduction of automated teller machines in the 1970s and Internet transactions in the 1990s, both of which reduced the number of window tellers industrywide as more and more customers handled account transfers without actually visiting a bank branch or talking to a person. About 35 million Americans now keep track of their money electronically -- a figure that is expected to double in two years.

At PNC, 20 percent of its customers pay bills online, up from just 7 percent two years ago. Starting last July, PNC customers had the option of receiving bank statements online (instead of the mail) and viewing online images of their cashed checks -- 15 percent agreed to it during the first six months. Of the customers who still receive their statements in the mail, only 5 percent still request the actual checks -- down from 40 percent in 2005.

The once-ubiquitous paper checks enclosed with every envelope began disappearing in 2004 with the passage of federal legislation (known as "Check 21") making it legal for banks to accept an image of a check for payment.

The new law made several other changes possible. No more stuffing an envelope with checks at the corner ATM; customers who want to make a deposit can feed checks directly into the machine and the check images are printed on the receipt.

And no more afternoon trips to the bank branch for small businesses. Both PNC and National City are rolling out new devices allowing merchants, who account for as much as 30 percent to 40 percent of transactions in a branch office, the ability to scan and deposit checks without leaving the office. PNC's device is about the size of a three-hole puncher, according to PNC's Tom Kunz, director of payments and e-business. National City's machine is a little larger -- the size of a shoebox, according to Dennis Devine, National City's executive vice president of retail services and direct banking.

One of three small-business owners travel every day to the branch, so this "is a huge time saver," Mr. Devine said. The machine, introduced in 2006, is a "huge hit among our customer base."

Another bit of technology being tested by PNC and National City is the "smart" ATM -- a machine that will know whether you speak a different language and calculate the amount you normally withdraw out as a way of speeding up the ATM experience. National City introduced the new machines this year and PNC will roll them out in 2007.

At PNC, the system will work like this: You put your card in, enter your PIN and press "cash withdrawal." Then a question will come onto the screen: "Do you want your normal transaction? Yes. Press here."

You take your cash and receipt and go.

The changes, in total, will shave five to 10 seconds off the normal ATM experience. That may not sound like a lot, but customers tell PNC that any amount of time saved is "valuable," said Mr. Kunz, especially when "10 other people are in line" behind you.

The rollout of so much new technology at once -- electronic checks, smart ATMs, remote deposits -- are costing banks tens of millions of dollars. As a result, it will take some time for the expected savings on paper and processing time to outweigh the upfront costs.

And more changes are on the way, some from the realm of science fiction. The most intriguing is the use of "biometrics" -- the application of body parts and biological information to identify someone. It's not outlandish to picture a day when bank customers can walk up to an ATM, have their hands or face scanned and leave with cash in hand. No cards, no PIN numbers needed. Both PNC and National City are studying the possibilities there, but National City's Mr. Devine cautioned that such a leap is not "imminent."

But, "Never say never."