In Vietnam, on Fridays, weekends and holidays, it’s common to find that ATM machines have run out of cash, resulting in the dreaded “ATM Hop” – jumping from machine to machine, hoping to get a much needed dong infusion.
Fortunately, the “ATM Hop” should soon become a thing of the past as the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) will begin to impose stiff fines for empty ATMs (VND15 million) starting this December under decree 96, according to Vietnam Plus.
The decree imposes numerous other penalties in the hopes of improving the quality of the country’s ATM services including fines of up to VND15 million for banks that suspend ATM operations without a 24 hour written notice.
In addition, “Banks that fail to maintain customer service operations to help customers at any time, and those that install, change the location or suspend operations of ATMs, if not in accordance with current regulations, will likewise be fined,” reports the paper.
The fees come in the backdrop of the SBV's Circular 35 which, when enacted last March, allowed banks to collect service fees for clients' transactions, including money transfers and the issuance of new cards, receipts or account statements.
Despite these additional costs, services remain poor.
Perhaps these significant fines will result in an improvement. We can dream, right?
