BNZ says ATM upgrade coming after issues at Gisborne branch

BNZ says an ATM at its Gisborne branch has had issues, but it has now been fixed. Photo / Gisborne Herald

BNZ has apologised and says it has fixed a faulty automated teller machine in Gisborne, which a customer alleged “swallowed” their money and failed to register some deposits.

A Gisborne BNZ customer made a Facebook post drawing attention to the issue at the bank.

Some comments described similar experiences.

The customer, who declined to be named, told the Gisborne Herald the bank’s ATM had not registered the full sum of cash “about three times” when she made deposits over the past five months.

“I don’t often deposit cash because I never have any money. But the first time I did it, I did it myself,” she said.

“I was really surprised that they weren’t doing manual deposits, you know – you had no choice but to use the machine inside the bank. And then I put it in, and it swallowed up my money. I can’t remember how much it was. It didn’t register on the screen or anything. I was like, ‘Where’s my money?’ you know?”

Most recently, she said, she had put in around $2000 of cash into an ATM, and $100 of it had not been registered.

The woman said bank staff she had spoken with were apologetic and the incidents had since been rectified, but the issues had been upsetting and she had concerns about the potential impact on others.

“I think the first time I was quite upset because I’d saved so much to put this money in, so I could pay my credit card off. You know, it’s your money. You’ve worked hard for it. Why should we have to go through this process?

“What about elderly people using these machines?”

A BNZ spokesperson told the Gisborne Herald the Gisborne branch ATM had recently experienced issues but had since been fixed.

“The Facebook post was brought to our attention earlier this week, and we proactively reached out to the customer to apologise. We understand how frustrating this experience has been,” the spokesperson said.

“We want to reassure our customers that our nationwide Smart ATM network is monitored continuously. Our Gisborne branch ATM recently experienced issues, and we have since replaced the faulty components and verified the machine is operating correctly.

“We balance our ATMs every few days, and if additional funds are found in the machine that are not accounted for, we have a process to identify the affected customer and process their deposit to ensure funds reach the correct account.”

The spokesperson said BNZ ATMs were being upgraded nationwide, including the Gisborne ATM, and it was expected they would become more reliable.

“While we don’t have a specific date for this location yet, these upgrades will enhance reliability and customer experience. Customers shouldn’t hesitate to contact us if they need support or have any questions about their banking.”