SOME AIB customers travelling overseas have been left with access to very limited funds after the bank introduced anti-fraud measures. The move severely restricts cash withdrawals from ATMs in countries outside the EU to a daily limit of just €100.
Customers of the bank who contacted this newspaper this week were furious that the reduced limits were introduced without notification. They said the changes had left them without enough money to fund their trips.
The bank said the temporary move was aimed at thwarting the activity of criminal gangs who skimmed the debit card details of some of its customers and were using cloned cards at ATMs in the US and South America.
It said it was not in response to a specific threat but would not be drawn on what prompted the move. The bank did not say how long the restrictions would be in place. Last night AIB accepted that some card holders “may have been inconvenienced” by the changes and admitted that it failed to communicate the changes to all its customers.
A spokesman claimed the bank had written to some of its customers who it believed may have been the target of card fraud but he was unable to put a number on how many had been contacted or what percentage of its customers received notification of the changes. Until the middle of last month, the daily ATM withdrawal limits for AIB debit cards ranged from €250 to €600, depending on the country the withdrawal was made in, but on February 18th the bank cut the limit to €100 in some countries, including the US.
People requesting more than that at overseas ATMs were told that they had exceeded their daily limit and no further information was provided. It was only when people contacted the bank in Ireland that they were informed of the policy change.
To skim a bank card criminals install devices at the “mouth” of an ATM which copies a person’s card details as a tiny camera captures the pin number the person enters. Once obtained, this data is transferred to a counterfeit card.
Chip and pin technology, now widespread across the EU, has meant the problem of skimming had been eradicated here but it remains a serious issue in other countries where instead of microchips, the information is contained on magnetic strips. AIB says these old-style cards are more vulnerable to skimming which is why it introduced the global restrictions.
The bank said yesterday that on the day the limits were dropped it posted a notice on its website which alerted customers to the change.
“If you’re planning to use your AIB debit card at ATMs abroad please note that the current daily cash withdrawal limit of up to €600 will vary depending on the location,” the notice said. “In some cases, the daily cash withdrawal limit may be €100 or less, particularly in non-European locations.”
