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New-Style ATM

The recent discussion of ATMs that fail to dispense currency reminded me that I meant to post about an apparently-new model of ATM I encountered in France earlier this summer. It belonged to the Societe Generale (sp?) and was manufactured by Diebold. The screen text was basically as usual. What was different was the way you got your money. Rather than having the money ejected part-way through a slot in the front of the machine, a (previously unnoticed by me) large horizontal (?) door opened. I looked inside, expecting my money to be lying there as if in an open drawer. No money. After several discombobulating seconds, as I considered whether I'd be able to get my money inside the bank, I realized that the money was there, after all. It was being presented edge-on (as in the usual dispensers), but the bills were being held vertically and only the edge was visible. In that position the money was extremely easy to overlook.

I used other Societe Generale ATMs, but only one was the style I described. I think it may have been in Lyon.

Posted by
2091 posts

Acraven, thanks so much for the warning which will definitely help us avoid some moments of panic! Getting tips like this is one of the reasons I so appreciate and enjoy the Helpline community!

Posted by
2668 posts

Thank you for the info. I rarely use ATMs at home and am concerned about them using them in Europe. Now I know what to look for.

Posted by
3514 posts

This is their approach to the cash trapping scams that have been reported. You know the one where the ATM goes through all of its motions and you get nothing and you leave giving the crooks the opportunity to run in and pull out their contraption that caught the money. Then the ATM owner says they balance and you get charged for the money you don't get.

The Diebold machines also now have a sideways card reader. Instead of placing the card into the machine narrow end with the chip first, you place your card into the machine top edge first. The entire card is then sucked in so the chip can be read. So far, the crooks have not caught up with this and these machines reduce card skimming fraud to almost nothing. First time I ran into one of these, I almost couldn't figure out how to put the card in!

Posted by
13808 posts

Oh, that is really interesting. I guess I will just have to only go to the Paris ATMs when Darcy is with me so we can use 2 brains to problem solve if needed!

Thanks for the heads up and extra information from Mark!

Posted by
2252 posts

Great information from all! Thanks for the heads' up caravan and Mark. And Pam, you know what they say about "Two great minds.....". I'm sure you and Darcy together will manage just fine!

Posted by
13808 posts

Andi, you are welcome to add your brain to the mix!

Posted by
10178 posts

Pam, you and Darcy are going to be in Paris together and you didn't invite me to lunch? :-(

Posted by
23177 posts

This is one of the reason I try to use a machine just after someone else has used it. The theory - if it worked for them, it should work for me. But also I can observe from a distance how the machine works - where card goes in, money comes out, etc. I noticed some changes in how our local ATMs look and perform.

Also do not delay in grabbing your card when the machine spits it out. Most ATMs are programmed to suck the card back in if it is not removed with a 15 to 30 second window. And you don't get a second chance to get it back. Had that happen to me once at home when I was slightly distracted and didn't notice the card being returned. I think I was trying to count the money. Now I don't blink until I have my card back.

Posted by
13808 posts

You are invited, as always, Andrea! And yes....Idaho gals hit Paris together!

And Frank, good tip about getting your card and not allowing yourself to get distracted.

Posted by
2916 posts

Very interesting info. I've been using ATMs in France for 30 years, and never had a problem, but I guess there's always something new to look out for.

Posted by
7731 posts

just saw similar new set up ATM CHASE bank in Champaign Illinois. It had a door that open and just like acraven I was confused and look down to reach in to take the money after removing the card

Posted by
26833 posts

I've never had an ATM problem in the US and am puzzled about why I've experienced so many in Europe, but I'm up to 11 months over here in recent years and I make frequent small withdrawals, so there are lots of opportunities for something to happen:

  • Machine dispensed money but did not return card. Resolved by pressing the Cancel button. (Salamanca, Spain)

  • Machine dispensed money but did not return card. Cancel key didn't work. Performed another withdrawal and my card was returned. (Salamanca, Spain, a different machine)

  • Machine accepted ny card but the display did not indicate that it had. No way to perform a transaction. Cancel did not work. Had to go inside bank, where they were able to open the machine and retrieve my card. Had to show passport, and an entry was made in a ledger. (France, maybe Lyon)

Reading all the comments about machines that don't dispense the requested money but record a withdrawal makes me very happy that I'm usually just requesting something like 40€. (I hate getting 50€ notes.)

Posted by
2916 posts

acraven, I've never had any of those things happen, but I did experience something 10-15 years ago in France that I didn't know about until I got home, and could have turned out much worse. On a number of occasions, my withdrawal didn't go through, for whatever reason. So I either went to other bank machines, or lowered the amount (I can't remember which), and they went through. Then when I got home I saw that all of those uncompleted transactions (over $1,000 worth) had been subtracted from my account, and I had actually almost run out of money in that account. My bank eventually got it resolved, and I got my money back, but it took quite awhile.