Machines we visit more than our relatives

Apparently next Saturday is Financial Day so a friend asked me to do a piece on ATMs. I gladly oblige.

In my opinion, the ATM is on par with the mobile phone as one of the best inventions of the late century. How many times have you been strapped for cash after the bank is closed? It's one of the first things I look for in a new place.

But as with other things, modern technology has its down side.

Crime is definitely a problem. There are too many horror stories of muggings where the victims are forced to drain their accounts at knife/gunpoint. A friend was once threatened by four strangers, taken to an ATM booth and Rp 4 million was lost. Another friend once deferred from withdrawing cash one night when she saw bloodstains inside the ATM booth and on the console.

There are also "businessmen" who see ATM customers as an opportunity to score a quick buck. There were reported instances where shady individuals approached people outside ATM booths with bogus"Congratulations, you've just won this pricey Ferrari watch but you should pay this amount of money to claim it" offerings.

They are very persistent, to the point of harassment. Early one night, a colleague encountered several young men hanging around an empty ATM booth. The rolling door in front of the booth was closed but apparently not locked, and they gladly opened the door for my colleague.

Once my colleague was outside with his money, however, they asked for a "handling fee".

But for all the horror stories, most of the time the hassles encountered are broken cards or loss of cards due to a very human attribute, namely forgetfulness. The forgotten PIN is a common occurrence.

Worse, in a lot of instances, people forget to take out their cards after withdrawing money and since honest people are close to extinction in this bad, bad, bad world, nothing is spared.

Which brings us to customer service at issuing banks. Replacement cards take quite a while, at least two weeks, not to mention the hassle you'll receive at the police station when filing the report.

Since we visit these machines more frequently than we visit our relatives, how do we make the experience more pleasant? The key is to be considerate to others.

There's bound to be a long line, especially with certain banks (a friend has even made time to travel around town to find ATMs in obscure places for shorter lines), so be as efficient as possible when it's your turn.

I find it frustrating when, at their turn, people still grapple with their wallet to find their cards or take a long time to decide how much money to withdraw when surely they could have done these things during the long wait.

It is also exasperating to have somebody with a long list of transfers to be made at the front of the line, just like one of the anecdote of standing behind a person who is making a big deposit of coins at the bank.

Last but not least: when counting money, please step aside. Counting directly in front of the machine will not be of any help in the event the ATM shortchanged you.

It will, however, test the patience of the crabby woman behind you who had only four hours of sleep (that would be me). -- Krabbe K. Piting