Willow

In the early 1990s, Seafirst Bank's "Versatel" ATMs in Puget Sound area used to sell First-Class postage stamps as well as (pro-rated) monthly Metro passes (only at select ATMs in downtown Seattle).

I thought it was a cool idea and I used them regularly but it did not seem to catch on beyond Seafirst.

https://info.mysticstamp.com/first-usps-atm-stamp_tdih/

#postagestamps #philately #seattle #seafirstbank #seattlehistory #pugetsound

First USPS ATM Stamp | Mystic Stamp Discovery Center

On May 18, 1990, the USPS issued an experimental plastic stamp to test the popularity of selling stamps through Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs). While the plastic stamp proved unpopular, especially with environmentalists, the ATM format proved to be a success.

Mystic Stamp Learning Center
May 19, 2023 at 4:04amWeb
Show threadWillowMay 19, 2023

Seafirst Bank (officially Seattle-First National Bank) was a subsidiary of BankAmerica Corporation between 1983 and 1999. Originally the bank was called First Seattle Dexter Horton National Bank (there's the Dexter Horton building in downtown). Seafirst had branches throughout Washington and BofA gave it considerable autonomy.

In 1994 Riegle-Neal Act allowed banks to operate in more than two states, BankAmerica consolidated Seafirst, BofA Alaska, and Idaho into Bank of America Northwest NA.

Show threadWillowMay 19, 2023

In 1999, NationsBank took over BankAmerica and decided to use the Bank of America brand forthwith. The new owner killed Seafirst that year and turned it into Bank of America.

I suppose it also scrapped Seafirst's long-standing "if you wait for more than 5 minutes you get $5" deal.

Show threadWillowMay 19, 2023

Metro (Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle until 1993, King County Department of Metropolitan Services during 1994, and King County Department of Transportation, Transit Division since 1995) sold passes through Seafirst ATMs until Metro bought "electronic" fare boxes and redesigned passes to be thin plastic cards with magnetic stripes for swiping.

The ATM passes were of poor quality, they were printed on thin paper with dot matrix.