Nghe An: Places to queue, places to jostle to withdraw money at ATMs on the eve of Tet

People in Dien Chau town line up to withdraw money on January 19. Photo: Quang An

According to the reporter's records, ATMs in Dien Chau district have been overloaded in recent days, especially on the weekend of January 19, with people withdrawing money at any time of the day.

Ms. Bui Thi Hanh, a resident of Dien Phuc commune, Dien Chau, sighed and said: "My children work in the South and send money home for their mother to prepare for Tet in advance, but when they go to withdraw money, they have to wait for an hour before it's their turn..."

Since early morning, people have been waiting in long lines at ATMs in the small industrial park of Thap Hong Ky (Dien Chau). Photo: Quang An

"On normal days, each person only withdraws a small amount of money for daily expenses, but this time near Tet, some households withdraw tens of millions of dong, while each withdrawal is only 3 - 5 million dong at most, forcing them to withdraw many times, making the withdrawal time even longer. Some people withdraw money for up to half an hour, affecting the next person..." said Mr. Nguyen Van Nam, a resident of Dien Thanh commune, Dien Chau.

Not only in Dien Chau, but ATMs in Cau Giat and Quynh Luu towns are also in a similar situation, with long lines of people waiting to withdraw money.

Ms. Le Thi Hue, a resident of Cau Giat Town, shared: "Knowing that it would be difficult to withdraw money at this time, I went early, but when I got there, I saw people lining up. Some people in the communes are not yet proficient in using ATMs, so they were fumbling around..."

Each ATM has 5-6 people crowded together in Cau Giat town (Quynh Luu). Photo: Quang An

Overloading at ATMs occurs in most localities due to the large number of people withdrawing money while the number of ATMs distributed in the districts is small. For example, in Dien Chau district, ATMs are only concentrated in the town and the industrial park of Thap Hong Ky, so people from 39 communes and towns have to flock to these points to withdraw money, causing congestion and crowding.

Despite the large number of people, according to the reporter's observations, people's withdrawal of money generally took place quite orderly; jostling, pushing, and chaos while withdrawing money only occurred for a short time during rush hour.

People should choose to withdraw cash at banks to save time during the Tet holiday. Photo: Quang An

To reduce the pressure of cash withdrawal overload during the Tet holiday, people can arrange to withdraw money during off-peak hours and in the evenings. In addition, if withdrawing a large amount of money, they can bring documents to transaction centers to withdraw cash, avoiding having to go to ATMs.