Hot fries, cold cash.

• Position: McDonald's automatic teller machines

McDonald's decision to serve quick cash with fast food in 30 of its North Carolina restaurants has given big banks another chance to bellyache about the bite that credit unions are taking out of their business.

The contract for McDonald's automatic teller machines went to the North Carolina State Employees Credit Union, which has grown to $3.2 billion in assets by pushing automation the way the burger chain moves french fries. Its ATM network of 345 machines compares with Wachovia's 225, NationsBank's 176 and First Union's 165.

"They have a very good ATM division set up, and that really impressed us," says Charles Campbell of McDonald's Corp.'s regional office in Raleigh. The dispensers were installed inside selected restaurants in Raleigh, Greensboro and Charlotte in June, with more scheduled for Eastern North Carolina.

BB&T, for one, would have relished an invitation to put its machines in the restaurants, says Kelly King, president of the...