I went to the ATM machine yesterday. The machine is enclosed in a little glass lobby with an outside door that is ‘supposedly’ locked, for your protection. In order to enter this little cubbyhole of safety you have to swipe your ATM card to get the outside door to unlock.
Problem #1 - Most of the time the outside door isn’t even locked. That really burns me up when I go to the trouble of swiping my card only to discover that the door was unlocked anyway! So much for the having a safe place to count my money.
Problem #2 - Even if the door was locked, who is it keeping out? Criminals without bank accounts or credit cards? They’ll just use a stolen one!! I haven’t tried it yet, but I think you can use any card with a magnetic stripe to open the door.
Problem #3 - The ATM machine has video cameras so only the dumb criminals would rob someone in the lobby. The smart ones are all waiting around the corner.
So let’s face it. The door to the ATM machine is there to keep the weather out and keep the overflowing wastebasket of receipts from blowing down the street. The door is not there for safety, so what do you say if we just take the stupid swipe lock off ?
The few ‘booths’ that I’ve ever seen have all eventually been closed due to vandlaism - which I suspect means homeless people finding a way in and sleeping the night away.
My Bank used to have a card swipe on the Lobby for using the ATM after hours, felt nice and safe. It has now been replaced with a push button that anyone can use, even the kids who scatter all the stationery on the floor when I want a paying in envelope. So much for modernisation!
It also means that if you are in there using the machine, only other card-holders can get in there with you. The muggers watching you get money have to wait until you leave the ATM booth, and then at least you have something of a chance to outrun them.
I actually try to avoid the ATM booths with card-activated locks. Sometimes thieves fit a fake slot into the real one and your card gets scanned as it goes in. Pair that with a video camera watching you type in your PIN at the machine, and they have a way to empty a bank account. I have two friends who had thousands stolen that way. Enough to scare me away from those for good.
Another thing that bugs me about ATM machines is when you take your cash, it immediately starts beeping at you to take your card. After trying many combinations of reciept - cash - card to avoid being beeped at, I finally figured out that taking the receipt, card, cash or card, receipt, cash sequence works without beeping. Tha bank does care if you forget your cash, they just don’t want your card!
