ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 7, 1995 TAG: 9512070067
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
New ATM-use fees given go-ahead
NEW YORK - Using your bank's automatic teller machines, one of the few free bank services left, may soon cost you more if banks take advantage of new rules.
Most of the nation's banks can begin imposing fees at ATMs beginning in April as a result of a decision last month by Visa International, a bank association that sets rules for ATMs.
The first place consumers might notice the charges is while on vacation. Banks want to charge fees at ATMs located in tourist areas.
Visa did not set a maximum fee that could be charged but said it expects banks to charge between 25 cents and $2.50 per transaction.
Most institutions charge customers only for using ATMs owned by another bank. Few charge for their own ATMs because they want to encourage customers to use machines for routine transactions rather than turning to tellers, a more expensive service.
Banks lobbied Visa to lift its ban on ATM surcharges because they want to levy fees at ATMs located in hotels and resorts, convention centers and turnpike rest stops. These ATMs are convenient to customers but expensive for banks, said Visa.
MasterCard, which operates the Cirrus ATM network, still bans the charges, but is reviewing the policy.
- Associated Press
Eagle-Picher liable in asbestos claims
Eagle-Picher Industries, Cincinnati, Ohio, parent of the Wolverine gaskets plant in Blacksburg, said Wednesday that a bankruptcy judge had found the company liable for $2.5 billion in claims arising from its sale of products containing asbestos.
Although the determination by Judge Burton Perlman was higher than the $1.65 billion proposed by the company and some of its creditors in February, the company will apparently accept the figure and proceed with plans to emerge from Chapter 11 of bankruptcy law.
The Eagle-Picher case was the last of the big bankruptcy actions brought on by health claims from products containing asbestos, said Peter Chapman, a Princeton, N.J.-based publisher of bankruptcy newsletters. A spokesman for Eagle-Picher, Rodman Nall, said the claims arose from the sale of asbestos-containing products with a total value of $20 million.
- The New York Times
Cable companies plan on-line access
NEW YORK - The nation's largest cable companies will begin offering access to the Internet and other on-line services next year at speeds hundreds of times faster than regular telephone lines.
On-line access has replaced interactive TV and local telephone service as the most important short-term growth opportunity for cable companies, executives said Wednesday at an annual media conference.
Tele-Communications Inc., Comcast Corp. and Cablevision Systems Corp. will all have on-line access in a few cities next year. Cox Communications Inc., which is experimenting with the idea, hasn't set a firm timetable for rolling it out.
``This is a market opportunity now,'' said Brian Roberts, president of Comcast. ``Computers are raging. This is a lob ball we should be able to hit out of the park.''
The small signal capacity of telephone lines means data are delivered slowly, something that has hindered on-line services and the Internet. Many people try on-line services, grow frustrated with the speed and quit.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Medium: 69 linesby CNB