Nebraska Bank ATM gives away random extra cash.

• Position: Ideas that Work - Brief Article

"Bank Error in Your Favor." Except that it isn't an error. American National Bank in Omaha, Neb., rigged its automatic teller machine to award a special "road warrior" bonus to customers occasionally--a few $50 bills stuck in with the $20s, and some $20s inserted into the stack of $10s.

It was the bank's way of encouraging customers to continue using the ATM, which was in the middle of a road construction project that caused people to complain and moan about traffic delays. Does it work? The jury's still out but in the first week, ATM traffic nearly doubled.

MyID. West Georgia National Bank is promoting a new customer privacy pro- gram, which it calls "MyID," to improve transaction security and allay customer fears of identity theft. The bank has installed digital cameras at each of its seven branches to take customer headshots for future authentication.

West Georgia also shreds its customers' old bank statements at no cost, rather than simply disposing of...