# Do your ATMs prompt you in several languages? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 25, 2012, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-atms-prompt-you-in-several-languages/626260 "2012-06-25T16:27:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-atms-prompt-you-in-several-languages/626260/21 "2012-06-25T19:05:08Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > English and French for sure in Toronto; I suspect both of these may be required by federal law, because the big banks are federally-regulated. Of non-official languages, Chinese seems to be the next most common, followed by Portuguese and Italian. These are more or less the largest immigrant groups to the city. Spanish may be there, but, if so, it’s uncommon. I would not be surprised of some branches of the banks, and also more local credit unions, had other additional languages on their ATMs. I also was somewhat surprised when I went to Canada to find that Spanish was pretty much off the radar. Down here in the US, lots and lots of stuff is bilingual in English and Spanish even when it is arguably not requred by law. There are so many Spanish speakers in many areas that it is effectively a national language. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-atms-prompt-you-in-several-languages/626260/22 "2012-06-25T19:48:28Z")
[QUOTE=Keeve] [Seven years ago](https://www.wellsfargo.com/press/20050309_KoreanVietnamese.jhtml), Wells Fargo was already offering six language options. I think my branch (northern NJ) is now past a dozen. [/QUOTE] They’re apparently up to eight now - Chinese English French Hmong Korean Russian Spanish Vietnamese No idea if they also speak all eight languages. As for storing one’s language preference on the card itself, I don’t believe that’s possible - the people who developed the stripe formatting back in the 70s (eg: ISO/IEC 7813) made no provision for that sort of data. If an ATM comes alive with your preferred language, it’s because you’ve set that preference with your bank and the machine gets a quick response from your bank on what language to use. ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-atms-prompt-you-in-several-languages/626260/23 "2012-06-25T20:01:30Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > BoA ATMs always communicate with me in Russian. BoA ATMs with the new software (which I believe is all of them now) will speak with whatever language your ATM card is set to use. If they talk to you in Russian, the ATM somehow got it in its database that you prefer Russian. I can’t speak for other banks. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-atms-prompt-you-in-several-languages/626260/24 "2012-06-25T20:10:22Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > I also was somewhat surprised when I went to Canada to find that Spanish was pretty much off the radar. Down here in the US, lots and lots of stuff is bilingual in English and Spanish even when it is arguably not requred by law. There are so many Spanish speakers in many areas that it is effectively a national language. And I was mildly surprised when I went to an ATM just over the Vermont border a few years ago and found it was in English and Spanish. Spanish is making inroads into Canada, but I think that’s mostly within the past twenty years or so. When I was in high school, the third language taught was German. Now, at the same high school, it’s Spanish. (I wanted Japanese. Not a hope…) ---
**Author:** ![crazydoglady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@crazydoglady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazydoglady)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-atms-prompt-you-in-several-languages/626260/25 "2012-06-25T20:41:10Z")
ATMs here in Montreal are, by law, in English and French (rest of Canada too, I think). I have seen Arabic on an ATM, as well as English and French, when I lived in my old neighbourhood. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-atms-prompt-you-in-several-languages/626260/26 "2012-06-25T20:52:43Z")
Wells Fargo offers Hmong (Hmoob). I was all 😕 because I didn’t think that there was a big Hmong population at any place I checked. Then it dawned: their original HQ was in Minneapolis. Others note this with other banks upthread. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2012, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-atms-prompt-you-in-several-languages/626260/27 "2012-06-25T23:57:19Z")
Moved from GQ to IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-atms-prompt-you-in-several-languages/626260/28 "2012-06-26T00:27:55Z")
Some, but not all, of the ATMs around here (Chicago, north side) have more than I’ve been able to count between swiping my card and entering my PIN. At least a dozen. I’ll count next time. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-atms-prompt-you-in-several-languages/626260/29 "2012-06-26T01:00:41Z")
All the ATMs that I ever use are English-only. ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-atms-prompt-you-in-several-languages/626260/30 "2012-06-26T01:08:42Z")
I’ve used ScotiaBank ATMs in QUEBEC that give me the option of English, several other languages including something Chinese, but no French! My guess is that it goes by where the card account was created (closer to Toronto), not where the individual ATM is. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-atms-prompt-you-in-several-languages/626260/31 "2012-06-26T01:19:54Z")
The most common non-English language prompt I come across is Portuguese. Lots of Brazilians in the neighborhoods I frequent, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-atms-prompt-you-in-several-languages/626260/32 "2012-06-26T01:50:28Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Yes, in the UK you usually only get a choice of languages if you insert a credit card (or, presumably, a foreign debit card). IIRC in the UK the choices are usually English, French, German and Spanish. If you put in a UK-issued debit card, you just get English, although this may vary in Wales and Gaelic-speaking areas, perhaps? > > Of course, there are [exceptions](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8217499.stm). 🙂 Yes to the foreign debit card. I still have a Bank of America account from my time in the States. I don’t use it much these days, but when I did, I was always prompted for language. When I use my HBOS debit card, the machine speaks to me in English without asking. Edit to add: I don’t live in a Gaelic-speaking area of Scotland, but I’d be quite surprised if ATMs in these areas catered to that. ---
**Author:** ![CatherineZeta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@CatherineZeta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatherineZeta)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-atms-prompt-you-in-several-languages/626260/33 "2012-06-26T01:55:00Z")
Chase banks have eight languages- I can’t remember what all of them are but I know they definitely have Russian, Spanish, Chinese and Vietnamese- I’ll pay more attention next time I go to one to see what the rest are. They offered the option of selecting a language preference, but it didn’t seem to save when I selected English because they still ask me which language I want. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-atms-prompt-you-in-several-languages/626260/34 "2012-06-26T01:58:15Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Yes, in the UK you usually only get a choice of languages if you insert a credit card (or, presumably, a foreign debit card). IIRC in the UK the choices are usually English, French, German and Spanish. If you put in a UK-issued debit card, you just get English, although this may vary in Wales and Gaelic-speaking areas, perhaps? > > Of course, there are [exceptions](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8217499.stm). 🙂 > Edit: it looks as if ATMs, at least Barclays ones, offer a Welsh option in Wales. [link](http://www.barclays.co.uk/ImportantInformation/OurWelshlanguagepolicy/P1242558101754). I remember being mildly annoyed by having to choose which language I was going to enter my numbers in, and that was between 10 and 20 years ago. Since then it’s been all English. However, an ATM in Soho the other day did give me the option of getting my money in Euros before proceeding. Soho is hardly a Eurostar hub where people might be withdrawing money just before hopping to the continent. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-atms-prompt-you-in-several-languages/626260/35 "2012-06-26T02:03:39Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I remember being mildly annoyed by having to choose which language I was going to enter my numbers in, and that was between 10 and 20 years ago. Since then it’s been all English. > > However, an ATM in Soho the other day did give me the option of getting my money in Euros before proceeding. Soho is hardly a Eurostar hub where people might be withdrawing money just before hopping to the continent. Well, there’s an ATM in the M&S store in East Kilbride (near me, but nowhere at all near Eurostar or an airport, and about 1/1000th as cosmopolitan as London) that offers Euros and US dollars. I suppose it’s meant to be a way to get holiday spending cash. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-atms-prompt-you-in-several-languages/626260/36 "2012-06-26T02:08:05Z")
Various languages here in NYC. More interesting are the metrocard vending machines, which always offer English plus three others. The three others vary, though, and there seems to be no rhyme or reason. I could imagine getting very annoyed if I happened to be monolingual in Russian and couldn’t find the one metrocard machine that would talk to me. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-atms-prompt-you-in-several-languages/626260/37 "2012-06-26T02:15:01Z")
InPuerto Rico, there’s the choice of Spanish/English on first screen of every bank-branded machine. Not really enough of a base of other languages to have more widespread. Some instances of more choices in the airside area of the international terminal and near the port. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-atms-prompt-you-in-several-languages/626260/38 "2012-06-26T05:34:22Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > As for storing one’s language preference on the card itself, I don’t believe that’s possible - the people who developed the stripe formatting back in the 70s (eg: ISO/IEC 7813) made no provision for that sort of data. If an ATM comes alive with your preferred language, it’s because you’ve set that preference with your bank and the machine gets a quick response from your bank on what language to use. I think that’s how it works with my bank, here in Canada. When I use my card at an ATM of my own bank, it’s alwaya English, but when I use an ATM for another bank, it asks my preference. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-atms-prompt-you-in-several-languages/626260/39 "2012-06-26T05:58:54Z")
I still get a kick out of this:[The ATM’s in Vatican City speak Latin](http://gizmodo.com/5905595/the-atms-in-vatican-city-speak-latin). ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-atms-prompt-you-in-several-languages/626260/40 "2012-06-26T07:34:23Z")
It depends on the model, location, etc. It ranges from “Spanish only” to “all four official languages plus three or four foreign ones”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-atms-prompt-you-in-several-languages/626260.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-your-atms-prompt-you-in-several-languages/626260.md?page=3)