ATM alert!

I received an SMS from one of my friends seeking guidance to retrieve his ‘lost’ money. He had entered an amount Rs.20,000 on the ATM screen in the evening hours and was waiting for his money to be dispensed by the machine. Even as the machine sounded to dispense the cash, but to his despair the money never came out of the machine. He smelled some fault in the machine and again punched transaction buttons on the screen. But this time, on test basis, he entered just an amount of Rs.200. The machine again failed him.

Even as he was urgently in need of cash, an instant SMS alert  from his bank informed him that the amount of Rs.20000 and Rs.200 stand debited from his account. This worried him as he didn’t receive the money from the ATM. It was a transaction failure on part of the bank. Now he thought he had to go through some hassles to get the money credited back to his account.

   

Even as a bit of personal intervention in the bank rescued him on time as the money was credited back into his account within 24 hours, the fact remains that many transaction failures at ATMs have remained unresolved. Most of the victims (customers) continue to long for getting their money back without any luck. Precisely, the bank has not reimbursed the withdrawer even months after the customer put in a complaint. It has been found that the lackadaisical manner in which banks deal with such complaints leaves the customers worried and without their hard money for months, especially when they need it the most.

We have seen that integration of technology into banking operations revolutionised customer service in banks. This statement may now sound redundant. But the kind of inconvenience loaded in this technology revolution sometimes leaves a bank customer high and dry.  Loading customers with the option of operating their accounts anywhere and anytime has raised their expectations. 

For example, today’s bank customer uses the power of online banking facility and plans his financial management accordingly. They may conduct their ‘most important’ financial transactions even during nights  through this online mode. This is here when the customer is left in a state of helplessness when the technical glitch denies him/her to conduct financial transaction. These kind of technology hiccups have become order of the day and customers are becoming accustomed to this situation in helplessness.

All of us know cash withdrawals through automated teller machines (ATMs) is one of the oldest wonderful facilities defining the power technology. This ‘anywhere and anytime’ banking facility, giving access to cash, brought dramatic changes in the banking operations. Even as it facilitated the customers to access their accounts remotely and conduct cash transactions, at the same time ATMs reduced footfall at bank branches to a large extent.

There is other side of the ATM story. Frequent technical glitches coupled with cash starvation have marred, if not the credibility but at least dependability aspects of ATMs. Simply, today’s customers don’t trust ATMs. Now stories of ‘fear’ of transaction failures among customers while using an ATM have become common. Instances, like the one mentioned above, galore where customers went to an ATM location, followed all steps to withdraw cash and the machine failed to deliver it. It’s here the customer gets panic when he finds his account stands debited by the amount which he never received from the machine. Later it takes weeks and even months for the customer to get back his/her money into the account. However, not all customers are so lucky. There are many who continue to struggle to get their money credited back to their accounts.

This may be a small technical malfunction of the ATM or the connectivity driving the machine, but this small issue has cropped up as one of the popular reasons of customer dissatisfaction. This has been breeding fear of losing money among the customers. Actually, the problem is not the glitch, but the approach of banks in solving the problem of the customers. The customers have to literally beg to banks to credit the amount back to their accounts. Notably, the problems for such transaction failures compounds if it happens at other banks’ ATMs.

What should a customer do in such situation? In such a case, the customers have to approach their home branch bank and lodge a complaint in the event of a failed ATM transaction. The Reserve Bank of India guidelines reveals that the banks are under instructions to resolve customer complaints by re-crediting the customer’s account within 7 working days from the date of complaint. And if the complaint is not resolved within the given time-frame, then they are liable a pay Rs 100 per day as a compensation to the customer.

(The views are of the author and not that of the institution he works for)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

16 + five =