Banks battle Tet ATM overload
As demand for cash withdrawals at ATMs doubles or triples around the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, banks are recommending customers use electronic payment or scan their cards at POS machines or use quick response (QR) codes instead of withdrawing cash at ATMs.
On the other hand, at the time before and during the Tet holiday, banks as well as goods and services suppliers have many promotions and discounts for customers when using cards. “This is also an opportunity for customers to save some costs,” Tuan told the Vietnam News Agency.
To support customers when shopping or paying bills without using the cards or cash, Vietnam Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Maritime Bank) recently introduced the payment feature using QR codes on mobile banking.
According to the latest statistics released by the State Bank of Vietnam, the country has more than 127 million banking cards of all kinds, more than 17,300 ATMs and 260,000 POS machines.
Despite the ceaseless increase in the number of ATMs and POSs, with the demand for cash withdrawal during the days near Tet, ATMs have become obstructed.