ATM Cash Withdrawals

This section deals only with transactions performed using Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) that dispense cash directly to the customer and not other types of terminals or transactions.

Withdrawals
A withdrawal by a customer, using an ATM, constitutes a real time withdrawal by such customer out of their own account. ATMs may either belong or be contracted to the bank holding the account of the customer or another bank. In the first instance the transaction will be performed entirely through the system/s of their bank. In the second instance the transaction will be forwarded to the account holding bank by SASWITCH, the inter-bank operator.

A customer initiates the transaction by inserting their ATM enabled card into the ATM, after which the ATM will request that the Personal Identification Number (PIN) be keyed in to verify that the transaction is in fact being initiated by the customer. This requirement protects the customer from the system being misused to obtain funds fraudulently from the customer’s account. Most bank accounts of individuals in South Africa are or can be linked to the SASWITCH system enabling fund withdrawals at ATMs across the country.

As the customer is responsible for safekeeping of both the ATM card and the PIN any transaction initiated, using both the card and PIN, will be deemed to have been initiated by the customer. A transaction initiated at an ATM is immediately passed on to the bank where the customer’s account is held together with the PIN in encrypted format. The paying bank (customer’s bank) has the capability through its security system to verify the correctness of the PIN without the PIN ever being exposed to anybody during the process. All transactions are uniquely referenced to facilitate easy identification of the transaction where subsequent enquiry or audit is needed.

Having verified the PIN and ensured that the customer has sufficient funds in their account to cover the requested withdrawal, the customers bank (authorising bank) will debit the account of the customer, then send a message, via SASWITCH, through the bank controlling the ATM, authorising the amount requested be paid out. The ATM would then proceed with despensing of the authorised amount if it contains sufficient bank notes to make the payment.

Normally, if any one of the required messages or actions fails to be executed, the ATM and or the system/s of the bank/s and operator will record such error with a code indicating the type of failure, send an error message to the other parties to indicate that the action has failed and the system/s will reverse any entries that could not be completed. The records of successful or failed transactions are recorded in log files by the various parties to assist in resolving any queries that might arise. In conjunction with the daily balancing of the cash in the ATM a clear picture can be obtained as to whether payments were actually made correctly by such ATM.

All banks involved in the exchange of ATM transactions are required to reconcile the records of transactions on a daily basis so as to ensure that the system is kept in balance and any incomplete transactions can be rectified speedily. A bank receiving a query regarding anomalous transactions has four working days to resolve a query.

In the unlikely event that a customer’s account is debited with the withdrawal without the customer actually having received such funds, the two banks involved will communicate with each other, having identified the error during the daily reconciliation processes or when a customer complaint is received. The funds involved will be returned to the affected customer and the service providing bank.

Most bank accounts of individuals in South Africa are or can be linked to the SASWITCH system enabling fund withdrawals at ATMs across the country.

Rules affecting customers

Customers need to take note of the following:

The safety of the card and the PIN is the responsibility of the customer. Card and PIN must not be handed to another party for use. Any transaction performed, using the card and PIN is deemed to be performed by the customer. The withdrawal or error message slip should be retained to serve as reference when a transaction is queried by the customer.

Other considerations
ATMs are non-attended devices for 24-hour convenience of customers and customers may therefore sometimes find themselves using such ATMs without other people around. This may result in such customer being exposed to unwanted attention by criminals. Technical problems do occur and a customer has to check whether a transaction performed by them has resulted in the correct amount being dispensed and has been recorded correctly on their account. Customers need to be mindful that criminals may target customers using ATMs, as non-attended devices, when there are no other people around.

Resolving problems
A customer experiencing problems with any withdrawal made from an ATM must take the matter up with their own bank.