I occasionally pull money from HSBC ATM's. They have a new security 'feature' you have to look out for.
The recently upgraded HSBC software, which reveals itself by showing a screen in which you have to agree to pay 'transmission fees' for overseas accounts, is the one to watch for.
After inserting your card, following 15 seconds of inaction this wondrous new 'security' feature kicks in and swallows your card.
HSBC, issuer of the dumb SecureKey, said this 'enhances security'. If this happens during banking hours, it only takes about 15-20 minutes for them to recover your card from the ATM.
If. however, it is out of banking hours, you have to return on the first banking day after the 'seizure' to recover the card. This might prove embarrassing if you have no money and an ATM grabs your card at the beginning of a long weekend or the Tet vacation.
REMEMBER: Tet holidays often result in ATMs having NO MONEY.
WARNING: 'Enhanced' ATM Security
Use Citibank ATMs. Can get more money than at HSBC, and they use the card swipe method (you continuously hold on to your card while inserting/extracting it). So you never have to worry about the machine eating your card. (I have no affiliation with Citibank, other than using their ATMs.)
Nothing new there, almost all ATM's (Card swipe styles don't apply obviously, which is why most new ones are of this type.) will swallow your card after a period of inactivity. (Used to 20 seconds depending on the bank). This is to protect you from leaving your card in the the atm and walking off without it.
Helps cut down on card theft etc.
The alternative is to spit it out and leave it there for anyone to take it.
yes it can be annoying, but at least here it's relatively easy to get it back. In the UK if an ATM swallows your card, you have to get a new one issued and that is a real pain.
The POINT IS that this 'feature' is NEW to HSBC ATMs. (And likely Techcombank).
And they don't warn you with a screen or a tone.
Happened to me at the ATM at SGN airport 5-6 years ago. I believe it was an ANZ ATM. Just a moment to decide how much I would withdraw. Ate my card right off. Of course, no one at the airport could help me. They told me to contact the office downtown which of course was impossible since I was about to leave the country for an extensive period. I had to contact the foreign bank that issued my card. Real painful!!
Jaitch wrote:The POINT IS that this 'feature' is NEW to HSBC ATMs.
It might be a "new" feature for HSBC here in Vietnam, but they have certainly had this feature for years in the rest of the world.
A quick google(http://bit.ly/11n1nv4) will show that... I've had it happen to me in the UK and that was a pain, try asking for them to return your card there, it isn't going to happen!
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