ATM failure creates chaos

25 September 2012 01:30 pm

An island wide ‘Software Failure’ on Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) of a leading state commercial bank on Monday put thousands of clients in difficulty as they could not draw cash from the ATMs.

The Daily Mirror was inundated with complaints from clients of the bank that they could not draw cash from their accounts using ATMs.  

The situation was further aggravated as Monday and Monday was a monthly pay day in  state and private sector institutions. Customers were seen desperately attempting to withdraw money from ATMs at many parts of the country.

“I tried to withdraw Rs. 5,000 from my account this afternoon from the ATM located at the Foreign Employment Bureau premises but I got only the payment slip, not money. I also found to my horror that Rs. 5.000 had been deducted from my account,” Sujith Lokuliyana of the Central Environment Authority said.

However, a senior official of the bank told Daily Mirror on condition of anonymity for obvious reasons that the error found in the bank’s software system had been attended and corrected.

“Yes, we admit that there was a ‘Software Failure’ in our ATM network in the country and we immediately corrected it after we found the error,” the official said.

He stressed that the bank has taken measures to ensure that not a single client would be affect from the Software Failure and their accounts would be readjusted and deducted amounts would be paid promptly. (Sandun A. Jayasekera)