ICICI bank customers found themselves left high and dry for a while here on Sunday afternoon when they could neither withdraw money from the ATMs nor swipe their cards for transactions while shopping.
K.C. Nair, who struggled to draw money from the ATM, said he tried swiping his card in three different shops in different parts of the city, but all his transactions failed.
“I later went to two ATMs on C.M.H. Road and Michaelpalya to withdraw money but could not do that as well,” he said.
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He then went on to another ICICI ATM on Jeevan Bima Nagar main road but found many customers milling around the ATM complaining they too were unable to withdraw money.
300 in queue
“I also called Customer Care but was told that I would have to be on hold and was told my turn would come after 300 others in the queue. I then left the ATM kiosk assuming there was some problem with the transactions,” he said.
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Later, he kept trying from 1.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. during regular intervals but it was the same story.
ICICI account-holders complained they were unable to draw money even from non-ICICI ATMs.
When contacted, ICICI sources said that a 13-minute technical glitch due to a snapping of a switch on Sunday afternoon led to failure of ICICI ATMs in the city.
However, they said they could not comment on the failed transactions when cards were swiped in stores as they had not been informed of such a problem.
Another shopper, who had gone to purchase clothes on Commercial Street, said she was dismayed when the transaction failed after she had spent more than an hour trying on clothes.
“When I swiped my card after 5.30 p.m., I was disappointed on being told that my transaction had failed. However, after 7 p.m., I was able to purchase some items using the card.”