ATMs a waste of time: customers

VietNamNet Bridge – Huynh Cong Ly was enjoying a pleasant Sunday afternoon in HCM City until he joined the long queue of shoppers wishing to withdraw money from an automatic teller machine at a supermarket.

Huynh Cong Ly was enjoying a pleasant Sunday afternoon in HCM City until he joined the long queue of shoppers wishing to withdraw money from an automatic teller machine at a supermarket.

However, it was the only ATM for miles around so he patiently waited his turn. But when Ly, 35, who works for a garment maker in Binh Thanh District, eventually got round to inserting his card in the machine, he could not withdraw money. It was a particularly frustrating experience because Ly was on his way home to Rach Gia City in Kien Giang Province to celebrate Tet with his family.

His experience however is far from unique.

"There are only a few ATMs in my hometown. They are far from my home and usually out of order," Ly said, "I have tried to withdraw cash from three ATMs near my company but all failed. I need money for Tet which is coming soon. Is this what they call a revolution in financing?" he said furiously.

At this time of year, just before Tet, demand for cash soars. However, ATMs, even when working properly, can only dispense a maximum of VND2 million (US$100) at a time.

Demand for ATMs grew significantly in 2008 when the Government decided to pay salaries electronically. Employees in processing zones and industrial parks are also paid directly in their bank account.

Trendy bankcards

"Yes, like every employee who is paid into their back account, I used to think it was more convenient to use an ATM because of their safety and privacy," Ly said. "For example, when my company decided to pay us this way, nobody could know what others were being paid."

Tran My Chi, who works as a check-in clerk for Vietnam Airlines, said ATMs were far from convenient. "I have had a lot of trouble with withdrawing cash. Last month my supervisor didn't know why she lost VND10 million from her account. After payday, she went to get some cash but the machine said there was nothing in her account. The bank refused to compensate her because they had proof the money was withdrawn.

"I don't know if there was fraud, whether her account had been hacked or there was some technical errors but I have heard of this type of thing happens frequently. Now I never keep more than VND2 million ($100) in my account. We need more secure ATMs," Chi said.

In Viet Nam, there are 26,000 people per ATM compared with 2,700 people per machine in Singapore. There are currently just 125,800 cash machines, with most being in major cities. The first started appearing 10 years ago.

An official from the State Bank of Viet Nam, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "Bank customers can rarely use ATMs from other banks due to a lack of co-operation among different banks or for technical reasons. The result is that machines are overburdened at peak times, such as on pay day, during holidays or on the weekend.

"Many ATMs are outdated and break down causing trouble for those who want to withdraw or deposit money. Bad security, wrong withdrawals and occasional losses of data caused customers to lose money," he added.

Tran The Nam, director of Asia Commercial Bank's ATM centre, said there were a lot of pitfalls in the current banking system.

"Criminals forge bankcards to withdraw clients' money. It's time banks did something," Nam said.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News