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ATMs empty

Bank stop refilling over insecurity

Sajjadur Rahman
The ongoing blockade has prevented banks from loading cash into automated teller machines (ATMs), making cardholders unable to withdraw money from them.
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Banks and ATM operators said insecurity in carrying cash during blockades and strikes is the main reason for their failure to load the ATMs with cash.
"Carrying cash has become very difficult under these circumstances. No one wants to take a risk," said Kazi Saifuddin Munir, chief executive officer of Q-Cash, the largest ATM network operator in the country.
A consortium of 25 banks, Q-Cash has 2,800 ATMs across the country. It needs Tk 300 to 400 crore to load all its machines on a normal working day. If a team is tasked with loading 10 ATMs, the amount stands atTk 3-4 crore per day.
"No bank or ATM operator wants to risk losing money as well as human lives," said Munir, adding that four of Q Cash's ATMs were already vandalised this year.
Banks that have ATM operations have been facing the same problem since the BNP-led opposition alliance started enforcing frequent blockades and strikes recently, demanding a caretaker government to oversee the national elections.
With 2,450 ATM booths, Dutch-Bangla Bank has the highest number of them after Q-Cash. One-third of the bank's ATMs were cashless yesterday, according to the bank.
"Four vendors who carry and load our cash do not want to take any risk at the moment,"
said Abul Kashem Mohammad Shirin, deputy managing director of Dutch-Bangla Bank.
He said it takes two days to bring money from the central bank and have the vendors load the cash after sorting it out.
"We are yet to load many ATMs with cash that was due last Tuesday, when the latest blockade started," he said. However, booths that are close to the banks' branches have cash, he added.
ATM users, especially those who do not usually go to banks, have been greatly disadvantaged by the situation.
"I have tried four booths - from Karwan Bazar to Farmgate - yesterday, but got no
money in them. Now I have to go to the bank's branch to collect a chequebook, which takes several days," said Rafiqul Islam, a private executive in Karwan Bazar.
Insurance companies' refusal to cover this risk has made things even more critical, banks and ATM operators said.
The Q-Cash chief executive officer said attacks on ATM booths are a new phenomenon that started from the Hefajat-e Islam's demonstrations in Motijheel on May 5.
The Hefajat activists vandalised and set fire to many ATMs in the area on that day. The ongoing movement has also seen ATMs come under attack.