Some ATMs have an identity crisis.

• Author: Martin, Edward
• Position: Tar Heel Tattler

The banking industry calls them white-label ATMs. Some consumers have another name for them: unarmed bandits.

They're unbranded automated teller machines, and North Carolina's three biggest banks have managed to annoy some customers with them. Charlotte-based First Union was threatened with lawsuits after charging customers $3 per transaction to use ATMs it owned -- but hadn't marked with its logo -- at Trump Plaza, an Atlantic City, N.J., casino. The bank then dropped unbranded ATMs, which accounted for 90 of its 4,700 money machines nationwide.

Charlotte-based Bank of America has agreed to pay $700,000 to customers in Washington state who sued it, complaining that they had been tricked into paying $3.25 per transaction by unbranded ATMs in grocery stores. Bank of America has about 13,000 ATMs nationwide, but spokesman Brad Russell couldn't say how many don't carry the BofA logo. He could say, however, that the bank intends to keep using unbranded machines.

Winston-Salem-based BB&T is also holding fast. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Money24, will keep charging customers $1.50 per transaction at ATMs that don't carry the BB&T brand. "We have them in remote locations, for the...