Web Site Will Deliver Tickets Via Bank ATMs

Tickets.com Inc. in Costa Mesa said Thursday it will start a pilot program to use bank automated teller machines as pick-up windows for event tickets.

The company said it will launch the program in Las Vegas with ATM Tix Inc., a Nevada company that develops technology allowing ATMs to deliver event tickets.

Customers would purchase the tickets through Tickets.com’s Web site, then collect them at selected ATMs, using their credit cards as identification. The program offers users a new level of convenience, company executives said. By using ATMs as “will call” windows, customers can pick up tickets on any day at any time.

Initially, the service would be available only for events at venues for which Tickets.com distributes tickets in Las Vegas.

The ATM experiment is the latest in a spate of developments designed to deliver more convenience to people buying tickets online.

Several ticketing services, including Tickets.com and industry leader Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch Inc. in Pasadena, have announced they are adding technology that enables customers to print tickets themselves after buying them on the Internet.