While many people need to withdraw money to go shopping or return to their hometowns, a series of ATMs in Hanoi are congested.

On the afternoon of January 31, the automatic cash withdrawal system via ATMs of major banks such as Vietcombank, Agribank, BIDV in some areas in Hanoi temporarily stopped transactions. Many people went to 4 ATM locations but still could not withdraw money to go shopping and go home for Tet.

Waiting for nearly 30 minutes but still not getting his turn to withdraw money at the Vietcombank ATM at Chua Boc intersection, Mr. Tran Vu Hung (24 years old, Khuong Trung, Thanh Xuan, Hanoi) had to look for another ATM. There were 2 Vietcombank ATMs here but only one was working.

Four ATMs in Nguyen Van Cu, Long Bien, Hanoi stopped working for four different "reasons"

“I need to withdraw money urgently but I have gone to the third ATM and still cannot withdraw money. In the Phuong Mai, Le Trong Tan, and Dinh Cong areas, the machines all show errors. I do not withdraw money from ATMs of affiliated banks because I am worried about problems, losing my card and having to re-issue it takes a lot of time. The bank should have notified customers in advance, or provided instructions on which machines still have money so we can proactively plan our spending,” said Mr. Hung.

According to people's feedback, Vietcombank ATMs at many other locations in Hanoi such as Linh Dam, 344 Ba Trieu, 260 Nguyen Van Cu all reported: "ATMs temporarily stopped operating, we sincerely apologize to customers."

Mr. Nguyen Minh Hanh went to the Vietcombank ATM in Linh Dam to withdraw money, the machine reported that the “transaction” was successful but the money could not be withdrawn. After a short time, the amount of money was automatically deducted by mistake and then returned to the customer.

Mr. Hanh said he called Vietcombank's hotline to report but was unable to contact them.

With a flustered face and wet clothes from the drizzle, Ms. Tran Thi Tuyet, 27 years old, from Ha Tinh, was worried when she went to 4 ATMs of Agribank on Phuong Mai, Pham Ngoc Thach, Dong Tac, and Ton That Tung streets (Hanoi) but could not withdraw money.

“The machines around here all say that the ATM is temporarily unable to dispense money. I work as a saleswoman and have been saving for months, planning to buy some things for my family before returning home. I booked a bus ticket for 9pm, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to withdraw money to return home in this situation,” Tuyet worried.

In addition, this afternoon, many ATMs of the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development (BIDV) also encountered problems, with the message: "The ATM currently has no cash, cash withdrawal transactions are temporarily unavailable."

According to Decree 96, from December 12, 2014, any bank that does not monitor the cash balance at ATMs and does not ensure that there is enough cash to meet customers' withdrawal needs as prescribed will be fined 10 - 15 million VND.

According to Dan Viet