Putting a wad of banknotes into a cash machine and waiting until you hear the “payment confirmed” beep is something we consider almost routine, as natural as paying for breakfast. Imagine that the ATM decides to close its shutters the moment it has swallowed all your money: cold sweats guaranteed. That’s what happened to Alain, a 57-year-old Belgian merchant, when he tried to deposit €16,500 at a Batop network ATM.
The machine started counting the notes, stopped halfway through and suddenly shut down, as if someone had closed a laptop without saving. The result: the card fell out, the transaction was cancelled and the ‘all clear’ message did not appear. Three weeks later, Alain still had not received a clear explanation or the euro he was missing.
What exactly happened at the ATM in Vilvoorde?
Alain, arrived with 250 50-euro notes (12,500 euros) and 200 20-euro notes (4,000 euros) that he wanted to deposit into his KBC bank account.
The ATM in Vilvoorde (Flanders) began to swallow the notes without any problem, but halfway through the operation, it shut down without warning and returned the card.
The shopkeeper immediately called the helpline, whose number was displayed on the ATM screen. A Batopin technician managed to restart the machine, but it broke down again. There was no digital record of the transaction, so Alain was literally left with nothing: no money, no receipt, no reference number to present.
Why does the Batopin network make it difficult to file complaints?
Batopine is not a bank, but a joint venture that operates the ATMs of BNP Paribas Fortis, KBC, ING and Belfius.
In an ideal world, this would simplify things, but in practice, Alain was caught up in endless bureaucracy: KBC told him he should complain to Batopinn, and Batopinn told him he should deal with the matter through KBC. His account manager sent three emails to the head office, but received no reply.
Meanwhile, the customer received contradictory information and did not know when he would receive his money, which made him even more angry: ‘Without €16,500, silence is harder to bear than any bank fee,’ he says ironically.
Who is responsible when an ATM “swallows” our money?
According to Belgian regulations (very similar to Spanish ones), the account holder’s bank is obliged to reimburse the amount if the ATM malfunctions, even if the machine is owned by a third party. In other words, KBC has the final say and then settles accounts with Batopin.
Batopin guarantees that only 0.05% of deposits suffer incidents and that, after an internal investigation, ‘the money was found and returned to the corresponding bank’. In practice, Alain received a credit notification 21 days after the incident: ‘Good news, yes, but three weeks of uncertainty is too long,’ he protests.
What lessons can be learned from this frightening case involving €16,500?
On the one hand, blindly trusting that technology never fails can be costly: the paper receipt from the ATM is still worth its weight in gold. On the other hand, the case shows that complex corporate structures (networks made up of several banks) delay responses to ordinary customers. Therefore, the best weapon is to keep the evidence and put pressure on the bank with specific deadlines.
Alain at least got his money back, but he promised never to transfer such a large amount again ‘without having a real person on the other end.’ Would you risk all your savings on an opening that could literally devour them?
