“Whilst withdrawing money from a cash machine this morning I was given the option of receiving an “advice slip”. Imagine my disappointment when I realised that the slip contained no advice whatsoever–just details of how much money I had taken out. I think cash machines should be like high street agony aunts, dishing out advice on anything and everything from how to cook a good lasagne to combatting erectile distinction.”

Apart from the fact that I think that last word was meant to be “dysfunction” … well … an interesting play on words!

Some banks (e.g. Demir) have programmed their ATMs in a way that they do not give back the card immediately, which makes it easy to forget your card in the machine. They first dispense the money and then it takes at least 5 seconds till a question appears on the screen if you want to continue or end your interaction with the ATM. Only after you actively selected to end the session, the ATM returns your card.

This process made me forget my card more then once. The first time fortunately the person behind me in line, came after me to return my card. The 2nd time the card was swallowed by the machine when no one took it and could be retrieved at the bank’s headquarter the next day.