4 Reasons Why The ATM Swallows An ATM Card

The  Automated teller Machine, (ATM)  is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of a given financial institution (like a bank) to perform some financial actions/transactions, which could be cash withdrawal, checking of balance, payment of bills, etc without the need for a human cashier, clerk or a bank teller. The ATM has been around for half a century now, starting from Barclays Bank, in its Enfield Town branch located in North London, United Kingdom, on 27 June 1967, where it is widely accepted that the first cash machine was put into use. The ATM is one of the top 5 most 21 gadgets in the 21st century, having about 3.5 million ATMs installed worldwide.

The ATM has been saving its users a lot of time and energy, it has made banking and other financial transactions easy, time and energy saving. But the sad part is that some or most people have been victimized due to ATM in one way or another. One of a general headache being faced by ATM users is having their card swallowed by the teller machine and in most cases, they are unable to retrieve it. So in this article, I am going to enlist 4 Solid reasons why your ATM was seized or swallowed by the ATM. And they are:

1.    Wrongly Inserting Your Card

When you wrongly insert your ATM card into the machine, there is a great chance that your ATM will get stuck inside the machine. There is usually an arrow on one side of the card which indicates in which direction you have to face your card while inserting it into the machine.

2.    Using Your Card in A Wrong ATM

Some bank and ATM users might not know this, but all ATM cards are not the same. Yes, they might have the same shape, or colour or size, but they never the same. Each ATM card is unique and is identified by a string of numbers. Verve Card usually starts with 506, 5061, while Master cards usually begin with 53.

So before you insert your ATM Card into any Automated Teller Machine, make sure that the bank that owns that machine supports your card, else the machine will hold your card, and you might not be able to retrieve it afterward.

3.    Using An Expired or Blocked ATM Card

Before now, Verve cards used to be valid for 12 months, while master cards are valid for 5years. But it has been observed that most plastics have a life span of 3 years at most, therefore, all ATM Cards now have a life span of 36 months (3 years). So once your card gets expired and you attempt making use of it, there is a 100% chance that the card will get stuck inside the teller machine.

On the other hand, when an ATM card gets lost, the owner of the card is expected to make a report to his/her bank and have the ATM card blocked. Once the card has been blocked, anytime it is inserted into an Automated teller Machine, it will surely get stuck.

Your ATM card can or will also be blocked and get stuck inside the teller machine when a user violates any of the terms and policy of the bank or financial institution that issued the card.

4.    Severally Entering a Wrong Pin Code:

In some cases, owners of a particular ATM card might forget their 4-digit pin code and will attempt to guess the pin while attempting to use the card. Once they input the wrong code more than 2, 3, or four times, the ATM will sense that there is a fraudulent activity going on and for security purposes, will withhold the ATM card.

Other reasons why your ATM card gets stuck in the ATM machine could be any of the following.

✔    Not having any funds in your account and still, you attempt to use the ATM machine to withdraw money

✔    Not having sufficient funds in your account and you attempt to withdraw more than the amount you have

✔    Using a faulty or broken card

✔    Using a reported or stolen ATM card

✔    ATM Machine is out of order and needs technical attention.

There are several other reasons why your ATM card can get stuck inside an ATM machine, but these are the main reasons. When your card gets stuck, don't panic, just make sure that you haven't violated any its rules and policies, then proceed to customer services section and make a complaint, You might have to make a few paper work if need be, then if all goes well, your ATM card will be released to you on or before 72hours.

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