ATM machine ate my card! - Page 2

This is the same way it works with all the ATM's I've tried, as well.. It'll let you do everything with a bogus PIN number.. until it's supposed to spit out cash.

I'm guessing this is an attempt to fend off fraud.. as the BoA machines don't ask you to re-enter your pin.. but instead, spit out your card and notify you that the pin was wrong.. so you have to go through the long process again..

I know this is an old thread, but I was Googling the topic since this just happened to me...  I feel like a dumb a**, but at the time I was rather confused.

 

I'm in Sweden, going to grad school (I'm from Lansing,Michigan) - and I went to an ATM to get my rent money...  Well, I'm not used to the whole using PINs for everything here, so I had been using another credit card extensively - and that particular PIN has been ingrained in my memory quite deeply as of lately.

 

So I put my debit/ATM card in the machine, and proceeded to put the wrong PIN (the one for my oft-used credit card, which incidentally just expired and the new card is waiting back home in Michigan) in three times.  Needless to say, I was quite confused after the first wrong entry - and after two I wanted to cancel the transaction to have some time to think - but at the time I couldn't figure out how to cancel it since the machine is quite different from those in the US.

 

So, I (still not thinking straight) tried that same PIN yet again, at which point I was informed that the machine had detained my card.  At first I kind of panicked as that's my only source of cash in this country.  Well, I thought, I should be able to get it back at the bank the next day, right?

 

I went there this morning, and of course the answer was, "No, it has been destroyed."...  Well, actually the teller had to ask a co-worker what the word "destroyed" was in English first.  She then told me to call my bank and maybe I can get some sort of "emergency" cash transfer to their bank (of course)...  Pretty much, as expected there was no sympathy for me.

 

I've got to wait another hour or so before I can call my bank - but I'm not too hopeful that they will be able to send me a new card via FedEx or whatever overnight (well, actually, shipping to Sweden is he** because there are no direct cargo flights - resulting in a minimum three day shipping time for what would normally be an "overnight" service).  They'll probably only want to send it to my home address, despite me having informed them that I will be in Sweden for the year.

 

Unfortunately, opening an account and making a bank transfer may indeed be my only reasonable option.  I was really hoping to avoid that, as my ATM card (was) working very well - no ATM fees and the best exchange rate you can get.  I hate overcomplicating things, and that's exactly what is happening here.

 

So basically, I guess my passport is good enough for me to prove my identity to both socialist paradise and capitalist paradise countries' governments (and allow me free movement among them), but when it comes to banks (or at least this one)... Nope.

 

That's just wrong.

The ATM's Can not shred cards- They are held and emptied at the end of the week and sent to the atm company for processing, this could mean they will be destroyed but if you contact the atm company and quote- Under the safe banking & Anti-fraud scheme 2009 I have the right to request for my card if i prove myself with id- if they object i suggest you threaten to take it to the media, that usually works!

But that lady at the bank was way out of lines and not following the safe banking guidelines, I would report her!