Last week the Deccan Chronicle carried a letter to the Editor about Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs). The writer was pointing out that many of the ATMs in Chennai were either malfunctioning or were often out of cash. One can easily imagine the inconvenience such situations cause the customers.
On the 18th of this month I went to an ATM belonging to a major new gen bank in Adayar. The purpose was to draw cash for a trip to
I had to search around for another ATM and found one belonging to the same bank in Beseant Nagar. Fortunately that one worked and I was able to collect cash. But there were avoidable tension and waste of time.
What happened to me earlier in the month is incredible. I was to leave for
The ATM had vanished!
A shop man next to the erstwhile booth told me that the ATM had been closed down a few days earlier. Since the bank involved (the same as in the incident narrated earlier) is a leading one, I could not call it a fly by night operation.
I am a client of the said bank, but had no intimation of the closure of the ATM. May be they published a notice in the newspapers but I had not seen it.
Do the banks treat ATMs as a necessary evil and therefore do not pay sufficient attention to maintaining the machines and stocking them with enough money. They should be able to gather effective intelligence on the withdrawal pattern at the different outlets since they are computer operated. That should help them to keep adequate fund levels at each booth. In any case, there cannot be any excuse for the poor maintenance of the machines. The logical conclusion is that the banks do not pay adequate attention to this branch of their business.
Every client has the right to withdraw money from the available balance in his account during banking hours. Preventing an account holder from doing so can, I am sure, attract legal action against the bank concerned.
An ATM is a cash withdrawal facility that is meant to be available on 24x7 on basis.
Irrespective of what the small print says, the banks cannot escape the responsibility to keep the ATMs functional around the clock.
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Also see: ATM Service
3 comments:
Have you heard of ATM cards being eaten by ATMs? I couldn’t make out what it meant when my twin nieces told me that once the ATM machine ate their debit card. It seems sometimes the machine does not give the card back after you feed it! You have to approach the bank to get it back. After coming to know that the machine can play such tricks on you, I prefer ATMs with swipe facility. At least you have your card with you even if the machine cannot process the request.
If you call it eating for not giving the card back what do you say for giving it back; spit out, throw up?
Nebu, that's a good one.
Hehe;
This 'card eating' functionality is an added security feature employed in all typical Atm's.
An ATM will eat a cancelled or black listed debit card or credit card, just to ensure it is not being misused.
The same applies for the following scenario- after each transaction the ATM will wait for a specific period of time and may even emit a beep beep warning sound.
If the individual does not take the card back within the period, it is assumed they forgot the card, and as a remedial measure the card will be 'eaten up' to prevent the card getting into some one else.
Imagine if one used the credit card at the ATM and for some reason forgot to pull it off and the next individual gets hold of it and makes some quick hefty purchases using the card?
Itz just an added security measure.
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