# ATM machines **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 16, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atm-machines/380687 "2006-11-16T15:39:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atm-machines/380687/41 "2006-11-18T08:20:37Z")
I’ve never been short/overpaid but I have heard ATMs referred to as “The Hole in the Wall” ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atm-machines/380687/42 "2006-11-18T08:32:19Z")
If it’s more than $100 in twenties, I count. Or more than $40 in tens. Less than that, I can see what’s there as I’m putting it into the wallet. Haven’t been shortchanged – yet. ---
**Author:** ![blinkingblinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@blinkingblinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinkingblinking)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atm-machines/380687/43 "2006-11-18T12:34:01Z")
[QUOTE=Bearflag70] Also, “ATM machine” and “PIN number” are redundant. [/QUOTE] Yes they are redundant and “We have a case of RAS Syndrome!! That’s Redundant Acronym Syndrome Syndrome, as popularised by NewScientist.” I have no problem with ‘Pin number’ or ‘ATM machine’. It is difficult enough to get through to our moronic customers without dropping the redundant word. What is the card called that you put into the ATM to get money (not a Credit card)? In Australia there is no set word. Some call it a key card, some call it an access card,some call it an ATM card ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atm-machines/380687/44 "2006-11-18T12:41:49Z")
[QUOTE=blinkingblinking] What is the card called that you put into the ATM to get money (not a Credit card)? In Australia there is no set word. Some call it a key card, some call it an access card,some call it an ATM card [/QUOTE] I’ve always heard it as “debit card” or “Cash Station card”. (Cash Station was the big brand name here for years.) ---
**Author:** ![blinkingblinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@blinkingblinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinkingblinking)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atm-machines/380687/45 "2006-11-18T12:46:08Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] I’ve always heard it as “debit card” or “Cash Station card”. (Cash Station was the big brand name here for years.) [/QUOTE] It does get called a debit card by some. But there are Visa Debit cards and Mastercard debit cards. So calling your ATM card a ‘debit’ card confuses other people. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atm-machines/380687/46 "2006-11-19T02:13:18Z")
Yes, I was shorted $20 by an ATM. Yes, it mistakenly charged my account. And yes, I count my money. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atm-machines/380687/47 "2006-11-19T07:48:56Z")
Me too, I was shorted $20 by an ATM about 20 years ago, and my account was charged. It took several weeks to clear up, because the ATM balanced. So it was my word against the machine. Ed ---
**Author:** ![JacksonRoykirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e79b87/32.png) [@JacksonRoykirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacksonRoykirk)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atm-machines/380687/48 "2006-11-19T10:37:11Z")
Yes, I always count my change from the automatic teller. One time, I requested $100 from an ATM. The machine returned four $20 bills and a $10 [food stamp](http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/221612/2/istockphoto_221612_food_stamp.jpg) (back in the days before food stamps went electronic). I got it from a machine in a mall not owned by my bank (the machine, that is). My account was debited for the amount I requested, but since the food stamp was dispensed in place of a $20, I was short in cash. I went to my bank branch, and fortunately they believed me, even though it wasn’t their machine. They took the $10 food stamp and credited me with the $20 I didn’t get from the machine. Nobody had any explanation for how a food stamp got mixed in with the cash and ended up in the ATM. ---
**Author:** ![JacksonRoykirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e79b87/32.png) [@JacksonRoykirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacksonRoykirk)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atm-machines/380687/49 "2006-11-19T10:38:27Z")
I always count my **cash**. I’d be in dire straits indeed, if the machine returned change. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atm-machines/380687/50 "2006-11-19T11:18:40Z")
Counting money being one of my favorite pasttimes, I never miss an opportunity to do so. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atm-machines/380687/51 "2006-11-19T19:20:24Z")
I always withdraw $80–never more, never less–so it’s always easy to quickly fan the bills out and do a quick check before putting them in my wallet. Never have found a discrepancy. ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atm-machines/380687/52 "2006-11-19T20:20:06Z")
What I hate about them is the way they give you your money before they give you your receipt. To me thats 10 extra seconds as a potential robbery victim standing on a dark street corner. Never been shortchanged, always count my $$ and I call them “blippers”, because that’s what the staff at the bank I worked in called them when they first came out. mm ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atm-machines/380687/53 "2006-11-20T00:42:31Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] Is ‘ABM’ (‘automatic banking machine’) more common than ‘ATM’ in Canada? [/QUOTE] Since the end of the Cold War, most banks no longer feel the need for ABMs. I always count my cash, usually while standing at the ATM. I usually try to do it so the ATM’s security camera can see me counting it. Never have come up short or long, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atm-machines/380687.md?page=2)