Loose change

By Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 6, 2000

ATMS TOO QUICK: A 70-year-old takes 4 seconds longer to complete an automated teller machine transaction than a 20-year-old. Useless trivia? No way. Customers frustrated by ATMs will visit tellers, and tellers cost banks much more than ATM transactions, says Boca Raton psychologist Regina Colonia-Willner, who studied 15,000 bank customers' ATM habits.

LESS PAY? Companies budgeted 4.5 percent in salary increases for executives this year but only about 4 percent for other employees, according to a survey of 305 companies by Buck Consultants Inc. in New York.

80-MILLION: That's the number of orchids expected to be sold this year in the United States. Botanists estimate there are 17,000 to 35,000 species of the exotic tropical plants.

SENIOR SURFERS: A study of about 3,000 seniors found that 93 percent have shopped online and 89 percent have made purchases online. In addition, 95 percent receive e-mail, 70 percent check weather reports, 57 percent find coupons or special offers and 56 percent read the news, according to Wilton, Conn., online marketing research company Greenfield Online.

MORE ID? Come September, Bank of America will offer Floridians check cards and credit cards that feature the customer's photograph and signature on the front of the plastic. The bank, No. 1 in Florida, says the extra identification will help deter fraud and theft.

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