Ahead of Vietnam’s annual pre-Tet ATM cash shortage, banks are preparing their own plans to handle the increased usage of these machines. However some local institutions are worried about a new factor in the implementation of these cash top-up schemes: traffic.
According to Tuoi Tre, cash shortages and machine malfunctions are frequent occurrences at this time of the year. As a result, city officials have made their yearly call to local banks to ensure timely and effective cash replenishment and ATM maintenance during the holiday season.
At a meeting on Tuesday, Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy director of the Saigon branch of the State Bank of Vietnam, ordered banks citywide to guarantee the smooth operation of their ATMs during Tet in addition to having timely solutions for any problems that may arise, reports the news outlet.
Le Huynh Ha, head of Vietcombank’s operations in Saigon, is already working on such plans.
“We will not wait until the ATM runs out of cash to start the refill,” Ha told the news outlet.
“We will keep track of the ATMs on the computer system and will start [to] replenish them when there [is] at least VND400 million [US$17,857] left.”
Even so, Ha warned that his company’s plan could run into complications.
“There are cases when we could not reach the out-of-order or out-of-cash machines on time due to the traffic jams,” he said, according to Tuoi Tre.
While traffic in Saigon will likely decrease during the holiday as many urban residents head to their hometowns, it’s safe to suggest Saigoneers visit the ATM well in advance of Tet.
[Photo via Bao Moi]
