Scotiabank discontinuing overnight ATM service?

News: Registration is free here at the CPMF!

I thought I'd bring this very important topic up...

I went to a Scotiabank ATM late this morning, and I noticed a sign on the window saying that the ATM will only operate between 7:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. seven days a week.  It is cited that safety of customers is the company's top priority, and that is cited as the reason for such decision.

I can see a likelihood as to why overnight ATM service may be on the way out.  For example, in Ontario, there are incidents of debit cards being stolen by scamming taxi drivers, and the problem was growing continuously.  I bet shutting down ATMs at 9:30 p.m. will help combat the fraud, and the scammers who steal debit cards will have to wait until the next morning when it is daylight and at least one staff person at a branch is on duty.  I bet this decision was being planned a few years in advance, and/or maybe the banks did this upon the advice of the RCMP and maybe the Solicitor General - they likely determined that overnight ATM service was being used for criminal purposes.

Here in Newfoundland, where I live, there has been robberies of ATMs using backhoes in 2019 and last May through July.  That could be another factor in discontinuing overnight ATM service -  maybe the ATMs are not only shut down at 9:30 PM, but also the cash inside the ATMs was taken out and not reloaded until early the next morning.

I hope this discontinuing of overnight ATM service is a corporate decision, and maybe CIBC, RBC, BMO and TD will follow suit if they haven't already.

I havent seen this pattern (closed ATMs) in Montreal. Maybe a local initiative to address the points you mentioned?

I live in Germany. Not far from the border to The Netherlands. For a couple of years now, criminal gangs (from a very specific group of immigrants in The Netherland) have specialized in blowing up ATMs. They use stolen, high powered cars to flee from the scene. People have been killed and injured when they caused accidents. Most of the time, the criminals manage to flee and escape though.
The area in which they operate reaches 150 to 200 km into Germany. First, they pumped gas into the ATMs and then ignited it. Banks got improved ATMs. Now, they are even using military grade explosives. Of course, this not only destroys the ATMs but causes serious damage to the places (buildings).
So, banks are closing the ATM sites usually from 11 pm or midnight till 5 or 6 am.
Moreover, banks are reducing the number of places where there are ATMs.

Dutch and German police are fully aware of the situation. But the gangs (police suspect there is a total of 600 to 800 members) are very tight. No undercover agents have been able to infiltrate.
A very easy solution would be ''arming'' the ATMs with paint bombs. However, banks don't like these ATMs because they need much more maintenance (=more expensive) than ''normal'' ATMs.

One BMO branch here in Hamilton was shutting down its ATM overnight because of homeless people sleeping in the vestibule/starting fires/etc.

Eventually they changed the door to open only with an ATM card from that company which reduced but did not eliminate the issue.

Steve

I thought I'd bring this very important topic up...

I went to a Scotiabank ATM late this morning, and I noticed a sign on the window saying that the ATM will only operate between 7:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. seven days a week.  It is cited that safety of customers is the company's top priority, and that is cited as the reason for such decision.

I can see a likelihood as to why overnight ATM service may be on the way out.  For example, in Ontario, there are incidents of debit cards being stolen by scamming taxi drivers, and the problem was growing continuously.  I bet shutting down ATMs at 9:30 p.m. will help combat the fraud, and the scammers who steal debit cards will have to wait until the next morning when it is daylight and at least one staff person at a branch is on duty.  I bet this decision was being planned a few years in advance, and/or maybe the banks did this upon the advice of the RCMP and maybe the Solicitor General - they likely determined that overnight ATM service was being used for criminal purposes.

Here in Newfoundland, where I live, there has been robberies of ATMs using backhoes in 2019 and last May through July.  That could be another factor in discontinuing overnight ATM service -  maybe the ATMs are not only shut down at 9:30 PM, but also the cash inside the ATMs was taken out and not reloaded until early the next morning.

I hope this discontinuing of overnight ATM service is a corporate decision, and maybe CIBC, RBC, BMO and TD will follow suit if they haven't already.

This is not surprising.

What is a bit surprising is how laissez-faire Canadians are about diving off-the-deep-end into a cashless society. Nobody seems to care about how fast retail expects everyone to use the VISA or debit cards with no cash options to check out.  I can't go to a Value Village without my cc. 

It has finally made headlines on our local news channels ("Canada goes cashless") but most people I know welcome the transition & don't seem to be the least concerned about losing their freedoms to pay with cash. We know the transition to digital (& loading up on debt) has been going on for years & yet we walk about like its okay (b/c like global warming/climate change) we don't see it/we don't want to worry our pretty heads about it. The only people who benefit are the big players behind the credit/debit movement, the marketing firms who track our buying, the cops & big brother organizations. 

I bitch about this crazy new hegemony taking place all the time & it certainly gets little attention. If I talk about it to people I know they change the subject. Another post I saw (on another forum) brought up this great read:
https://merchantmachine.co.uk/the-countries-most-reliant-on-cash-in-2022/
Another collector wrote that the UK has seriously decreased the # of ATMs across the UK & he expects that the trend will continue with Canada & other countries.

I just noticed something last Saturday morning when I was withdrawing cash at the ATM.  I discovered that one of the ATMs is now gone.  I believe the ATM that may have been decommissioned was one of the two select-cash ATMs (the ones that dispense all banknotes except $10s).  Could this be the beginning of the end of ATMs, or at least the looming demise of select cash ATMs, and if true, are they doing it as a cost-cutting measure?

I realize another possible reason for possibly removing the select-cash ATMs.  Nearly every customer wanted to go to such ATM, refusing to go to a vacant ATM that dispenses just $20s, and holding up lines as a result.

I also read a sign through the door advising customers to ask about the bank's "digital hour" from 4-5 PM. What is this all about?

Back on topic about the panhandlers, I also learned from a hair salon employee last Saturday that the panhandler is banned from the Scotiabank area and a security guard supposedly hired by the bank ordered him to leave the area and not return (finally, it's about time!).  He was previously banned from a nearby supermarket area quite a while ago, and the last I heard from the hairstylist, he only had one more "hot spot" left to get money from customers - but there may be cameras outside the area, which explains the absence of panhandlers near that busy retail outlet for some months - until recently.  It's possible that hte security guard may be in the area more frequently now in order to combat such activity.  At this point, the panhandler could soon be running out of nearby places to beg for money.  It sounds like the panhandler was making customers uncomfortable by insisting to get money from customers.  If I was a customer and such person approached me, I would shout "NO!" like I mean it, and if he decides to aggressively yell and utter expletives towards me, that's his problem.

UPDATE: The ATM I mentioned that was missing is back in the same spot now.  It was apparently a normal ATM - one that dispenses $20s only.

However, last week, only one select cash ATM was available, as the other one was out of order.  When I tried to use the only available machine last week, the withdrawal option was disabled.  Was this because that particular machine was out of cash?