Have you ever thought to yourself “The ATM didn’t give me my money!”? Today we’ll be talking about the who, what, why of cash dispense issues.
Picture this – you’re standing at an ATM, you’ve put in your PIN and the amount you want… Suddenly, the screen goes blank. A message comes up along the lines of “It has not been possible to complete this transaction”. The ATM screen then shows an out of service message.
Being the diligent bank account holder that you are, you check your account, and it shows that even though you didn’t physically get the money, it’s been taken from the account anyway… so what’s the first thing that comes to mind?
“The ATM didn’t give me my money!”
My money’s been stolen… This company are thieves… It’s a scam… I want my money back…
But before you turn to social media or call the customer helpdesk and take out your frustrations, can we ask you just to take a moment. Yes – this is infuriating. Yes – it is inconvenient. But we want to put your mind at rest because in most instances this will be down to a technical glitch and your money is safe.
Let’s be honest, does technology do what it’s supposed to 100% of the time? All technology, including laptops and phones, are capable of messing up occasionally, nothing is perfect. ATMs fit into the same category. They can be subject to similar issues such as hardware fails, power glitches or being faced with a GPRS/internet signal drop or interruption.
Everyday Euronet is faced with allegations and threats from customers that have experienced issues at an ATM, just like “The ATM didn’t give me my money!”. As a global competitor in the payments industry, our main priority is to create a seamless experience for our customers and meet their withdrawal needs. But from time-to-time things can go wrong.
We understand how frustrating and inconvenient it can be having cash withdrawal problems.
Especially when the ATM did not dispense the right amount or even the cash entirely, but your bank account is telling you that it has been withdrawn.
It’s important for you to know that if this takes place, the ATM is generally aware of it. Usually, the ATM’s software will realise something went wrong and will automatically raise a reversal. The amount should then be returned to your bank account.
In other cases, certain transaction types may raise a warning where the card issuer will need to investigate further. This means the customer will need to raise a dispute with the card issuer (i.e. your bank), and they will then begin the regulated refund process. For clarity, we do not take any of the money that was requested, nor do we benefit from this transaction error.
Each and every transaction conducted at the ATM is logged (for audit purposes). Euronet must follow strict protocols and processes set out by the card schemes, in-country regulations and industry governance. It is the customer’s responsibility to speak to the card issuer directly and allow them to start the process on the customer’s behalf.
To raise this dispute as quickly and smoothly as possible there is a few things you can do to make it easier for us and/or your bank. Remember to:
- Not panic.
- Take note of the date, place, and time.
- Immediately contact your bank / card issuer.
If you are ever at an ATM and thinking “The ATM didn’t give me my money!”, we want to apologise in advance for the inconvenience. Making sure that our customers leave the ATM happy is extremely important for our reputation, our growth, and our business entirely. So why would we want to purposely sabotage that?
If you are looking for information on other cash withdrawal issues why don’t you check out our other blogs which makes up a three-part series.
“The ATM stole my money!” – discussing what cash retraction is, why it happens and what you need to do next.
“Encountering fees at the ATM” – discussing the different types of fees at the ATM and why they’re applied.
