Is the ATM malfunctioning and dispensing paper instead?

Regarding the incident where a cardholder received a slip of paper with the number 500,000 VND printed on it instead of real money when withdrawing cash at an ATM, a bank representative explained that the transaction was being conducted during a testing phase, and real money had not yet been placed in the tray, leading to this unusual incident.

The incident occurred on the morning of March 1st at a PVcomBank ATM in Big C Thăng Long (Hanoi). A VIB cardholder withdrew 500,000 VND, but instead of receiving the full amount, the customer was surprised to see the ATM dispense a rectangular green piece of paper with the number 500,000 printed on it. Shortly afterward, the cardholder received a text message notifying them that the money had been deducted from their account.

The cardholder tried to withdraw money at PVcomBank, but the ATM dispensed a demo piece of paper with the numbers printed on it.

Speaking to the press, a representative from PVcomBank acknowledged that this was an incident caused by the bank's installation and testing of a new ATM and system upgrade today. The bank explained that the ATM at Big C Thăng Long this morning was being tested by a contractor and had not yet been handed over to the bank. The cardholder experienced this issue because they conducted the transaction while the contractor's staff were temporarily absent from the ATM, handling a network issue. During the testing phase, the ATM's cash tray contained only sample bills, not real cash.

"Because the trial run is still underway and the contractor has not yet handed over the technology to PVcomBank, real money has not been deposited into the fund, and customers have withdrawn demo money," a representative from PVcomBank said.

Upon receiving the information, PVcomBank immediately conducted an investigation to refund the money to the customer. The incident, caused by the contractor's construction process, was quickly resolved by PVcomBank to ensure the smooth operation of the new ATM system.

Previously, PVcomBank had notified its customers via text message about the system upgrade. However, the fact that the ATM at Big C Thăng Long was still in the testing phase, without real cash, and that customers needing to make transactions were not warned about this led to the incident.

According to VNE