New Year rush cleans out Ho Chi Minh City ATMs
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ATMs in Ho Chi Minh City reportedly acted up during the long New Year holiday when there was a rush to get salaries and bonuses, and worried banks are taking steps to ensure there is no repeat during Tet.
A customer in Go Vap District complained: “I could not withdraw any money from Dong A Bank’s ATMs on the afternoon of January 3 and morning of the 4th. Since the machines in Districts 12 and Go Vap kept showing errors, to get some cash I had to go to the bank.”
A Phu Nhuan District resident said ATMs had run out of cash and he had to go around to various places to get it.
Ly Thi Ngoc, Dong A Bank’s director of Card Center said the payment of New Year bonuses by businesses to employees meant an abnormally large number of customers used the ATMs.
The bank had doubled, and even tripled in some cases, the amount of money in some busy ATMs, she said.
Employees had been apprised of the problem and were prepared to deal with a shortage of cash at ATMs and instruct customers in case of machine breakdowns.
A common problem
Customers of some large banks also had trouble at ATMs during last weekend. “Tet is coming and if it does not get fixed, it is going to be real hard for us,” one said worriedly.
Le Huynh Ha, ATM service manager at Vietcombank, said cash withdrawal was up by half over the normal amount.
The bank has started to load its ATMs with large denomination notes like VND500,000.
“Ten days before Tet will be the peak period for transactions,” Ha said.
“We are preparing to at least double the frequency of cash delivery to ATMs situated in hot spots like the city center, shopping malls, and super markets to ensure there won’t be any shortage.”
Banks also said that customers of one bank can now withdraw money from other banks’ ATMs for a fee.
