ATM frequently asked questions

In addition to dispensing cash, ATMs may offer many other services / facilities to customers. Some of such services include:

• Balance enquiry
• Transfers within HSBC accounts
• Mini/short statement generation
• PIN change
• Request for cheque book

The ATM/ATM cum debit cards, credit cards and prepaid cards, as permitted by the issuer, can be used at ATMs for various transactions.

Yes, cards issued by banks in India can be used at any ATM in the country.

For transacting at an ATM, the customer should traditionally have a valid card and a Personal Identification Number (PIN). Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also allowed card-less withdrawals at ATMs.

PIN is the numeric password which is separately mailed/handed over to the customer by the bank while issuing the card. Most banks require the customers to change their PIN after the first use. Customers should not disclose their PIN to anybody, including to bank officials. Customers should change their PIN at regular intervals.

A transaction carried out at an ATM of the card issuing bank is called an On-Us transaction. A transaction carried out at any other ATM is called an Off-Us transaction. For instance, if a card issued by bank A is used at an ATM of bank A then it is an On-Us transaction.

Yes, a bank must offer to its savings bank account holders a minimum number of free transactions at ATMs as under:

• Transactions at a bank’s own ATMs (On-Us transactions) at any location: Banks should offer their savings bank account holders a minimum of 5 free financial transactions in a month, irrespective of the location of ATMs. Any number of non-cash withdrawal transactions will be provided free.
• Transactions at any other banks’ ATMs (Off-Us transactions) at Metro locations: in case of ATMs located in 6 metro locations, viz. Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi, banks shall offer their savings bank account holders a minimum of 3 free transactions (including financial and non-financial transactions) in a month.
• Transactions at any other banks’ ATMs (Off-Us transactions) at non-Metro locations: at any location, other than the 6 metro locations as above, banks must offer its savings bank account holders a minimum of 5 free transactions (including financial and non-financial transactions) at other bank ATMs in a month.

RBI has mandated minimum number of free transactions at ATMs. However, banks may offer more free transactions to their customers if they choose to do so.

The prescription of free transactions does not apply to BSBDA as the number of withdrawals from BSBDA is subject to the conditions associated with such accounts.

The prescription of number of free transactions is inclusive of financial and non-financial transactions at other bank ATMs. However, non-cash withdrawal transactions (such as balance enquiry, cheque book request, payment of taxes, funds transfer, etc.), on own bank ATMs are not to be part of the number of free ATM transactions. Similarly, transactions that fail on account of technical reasons like hardware, software, communication issues; non-availability of currency notes in the ATM; and other declines ascribable directly/wholly to the bank/service provider; invalid PIN/validations; etc., shall not be counted as valid ATM transactions for the customer. Consequently, no charges thereon shall be levied.

ATM installing banks have been advised to indicate clearly at each ATM location that the ATM is situated in a ‘metro’ or a ‘non-metro’ location using appropriate means (message displayed on the ATM/sticker/poster, etc) to enable the customer to identify the status of the ATM in relation to availability of number of free transactions.

Yes, customers can be charged for transactions at ATMs over and above the mandated number of free transactions (as indicated in answer to Can a bank offer more number of free transactions at ATMs?). Presently, these charges cannot exceed a maximum of INR23 per transaction (plus applicable taxes, if any) by his/her bank.

• Cash withdrawal with the use of credit cards
• Cash withdrawal in an ATM located abroad.

Or at an ATM of any other bank, the transaction is Off-Us.

Though banks are supposed to reverse such transactions on their own, it is always a good practice to lodge a complaint with the card issuing bank or ATM owner bank at the earliest.

In the case of a failed ATM transaction, banks have been mandated to re-credit the customer’s account within a maximum of T+5 calendar days (where ‘T’ is the day of transaction).

Yes, the card-issuing-bank has to pay compensation of INR100 per day for delay in re-crediting the customer’s amount beyond 5 calendar days from the date of the failed ATM transaction. The compensation has to be credited to the account of the customer without any claim being made by the customer.

The customer can approach his / her bank and take up the matter with them. If the customer is not satisfied with the reply of the bank or in case of non-receipt of a reply from the bank within 30 days, the customer can take recourse to the Reserve Bank - Integrated Ombudsman Scheme. The details of Office of RBI Ombudsman are available at https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/AboutUsDisplay.aspx?pg=BankingOmbudsmen.htm or the customer can make an online complaint at https://cms.rbi.org.in/cms/indexpage.html#eng

A card upon expiry of its validity or closure of the underlying account, should be cut into 4 pieces through the magnetic strip/chip before disposing it off.

Customers should observe the following Do’s and Don’ts to keep their transactions at ATMs safe and secure:

• Customer should conduct the ATM transaction in complete privacy
• Only one card holder should enter and access the ATM kiosk at a time
• The card holder should not lend his/her card to anyone
• The card holder should not write the PIN on the card
• The card holder should not share the PIN with anyone
• The card holder should not let anyone see the PIN while it is being entered at the ATM
• The card holder should never use a PIN that could be easily guessed.
• The card holder should never leave the card in the ATM
• The card holder should register his/her mobile number with the card issuing bank for getting alerts for transactions at ATMs. Any unauthorized card transaction in the account, if observed, should be immediately reported to the card issuing bank
• The card holder should be vigilant and check if any extra device/s is/are attached to the ATMs. The device/s may be put in place to capture customer data fraudulently; if found, the security guard/bank entity should be informed immediately
• The card holder should keep an eye on suspicious movement/s of people around the ATMs. He/she should be careful of strangers trying to engaging him/her in conversation or offering assistance / help in operating the ATM
• The card holder should remember that bank officials never ask for card details or PIN over telephone/email. So, he/she should not respond to any such communication from anyone indicating that they represent his/her bank

The customer should contact the card issuing bank immediately on noticing the loss or theft of the card and should request the bank to block the card.

The magnetic stripe card stores card data on the magnetic stripe present on the card while the data in an EMV chip and PIN card is stored in a chip.

Banks have been instructed to convert all existing Magnetic Stripe cards to EMV Chip and PIN cards before 31 December 2018. If the card holder has not got his/her magnetic stripe card replaced by an EMV Chip and PIN card, he/she should immediately approach his/her bank branch to get the replacement.