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Why Don’t They… Make It Impossible to Leave Your ATM Card in the Machine?
It’s a scene that I’ve witnessed all too many times.
Last week, I strolled up to my Washington Mutual ATM only to find a stranger’s forgotten Citibank card already in the machine. I quickly grabbed the card before the thieves could and handed it in to the customer service desk. The WaMu employee thanked me and rolled his eyes – a face of frustration, as if this happens all the time.
The absent-minded Citi customer was probably used to the “dip reader” ATMs (for a visual, click here). At Citi locations, for instance, you insert your card, wait for the machine to recognize it and then remove the card before you tell the machine what you want to do. The card never disappears into the machine.
In contrast, the “manual card reader,” (for a visual, click here) like the one at WaMu branches, takes your card, sucks it all the way into the machine and doesn’t let go until after you’ve received your cash and told the machine that you’re done.
So why don’t all banks use the dip reader ATMs?
In the early days of credit and debit cards, manual card readers were a good idea.
The manual card readers could seize suspicious cards, stopping thieves in their quest to spend someone else’s money. In some parts of the world (England and most of Asia), manual card readers are required by law because of this safety feature. And if your card is left for more than a certain amount of time (the bank determines this amount of time), then the ATM may start flashing and beeping to remind forgetful customers to grab their card. But at this point, it’s likely that the customer has already split.
“In the older days it was the only way for a stolen card to be recaptured,” Kurtis Johnson, the Senior Product Manager at Triton, a large ATM manufacturing company said. “Nowadays cards can be cancelled electronically.”
Manual card readers aren’t merely antiquated. They’re also harder to maintain (which is why hassle-averse convenience stores use the dip readers) and significantly more expensive. ATM manufacturers sell the dip reader component for $20 to $30, but the manual card reader piece costs around $300, according to Triton. And don’t forget the employee hours spent dealing with customer complaints and tracking down owners of seized cards.
I called up some of the banks’ PR folks to see how they handle this perquacky ATM situation. Here’s what they had to say:
Bank of America (both dip and manual card readers) - We do use both the dip and traditional models that you mention. It varies by site and transaction patterns.
Chase (uses both dip and manual card readers) - The off-premises [not in bank branches] machines usually are the dip versions. The split often varies by region and reflects preferences or popularity over a number of years.
HSBC (by end of year, all ATMs will be dip readers) – We’re trying to protect our consumers. You cannot leave until you pull out the card. We view it as a much safer alternative… there are a lot more logistical issues with a [manual] card reader.
Key Bank (only uses manual card readers) – Card capture will activate if card is statused as ‘lost, stolen, suspect activity.’
Wachovia (uses both) - Wachovia’s expansive ATM network is in place for the convenience of its customers. We have extensive measures in place to understand what our customers’ access needs are across our various geographies and markets and to provide them with the best access and service solutions. For these reasons, we use 2 different readers on our ATM machines - the Insert Card Reader and the Dip Reader. Both Reader types enable us to offer the best access options to our customers.
Wells Fargo (only uses manual card readers) - We use a motorized reader as they provide a better customer experience and they are harder to tamper with.
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