HSBC Joins State Banks
In Closing Down ATM's At
10pm
The private bank, HSBC,
has joined the state
banks in shutting their
ATM's at 10pm, in a
security measure to
avoid "paseo millonarios"
- a method used by
thieves to attack their
victims using an ATM at
night.
The state banks - Banco
Nacional, the Banco de
Costa Rica and
Bancredito - adopted the
measure since the
beginning of the month (Nacional
on December 3 and Costa
Rica and Bancredito on
December 5).
HSBC is the first of the
private banks to do so.
ATM machines are closed
off at 10pm and
available again at 5am.
The closures are on the
recommendation of the
Organismo de
Investigación Judicial (OIJ)
director, Jorge Rojas,
who suggested to the
banks that the measure
would protect citizens
as most of the attacks
on ATM customes have
been at night. Rojas
also suggested to the
banks to limit the
amounts of withdrawls
starting at 8pm.
So far this 37 people
have been victims of
“paseo millonario”
method, where victims
are in a sense kidnapped
and taken to various ATM
locations to withdraw as
much as possible from
their account. In some
cases, victims are
accompanied to their
homes by the assailants
for cash and valuables. |
