Reyes, R-Saipan, said he tried to get $400 from his account through one of Pacific Amusement’s ATMs but instead of giving out the money, the machine dispensed an “error report.”
The lawmaker said he found later from his bank that the amount was still deducted from his account.
Pacific Amusement, he said, verified the deduction while his bank recorded the transaction as “questionable,” thus, withholding the funds for some reasons about which he was not informed.
Pacific Amusement’s ATMs are usually found in poker arcades and are not operated by any local banks on the islands.
Reyes wants to know if there is any local regulation in place that governs these ATMs.
In a letter yesterday, Reyes urged Department of Commerce Secretary Michael Ada to investigate the matter, as he believes “there are other victims” of these ATMs.
He awants to know how much of these “questionable transactions” are still on hold or unresolved and what efforts are being taken to give the clients their money back.
In a separate interview, Pacific Amusement manager Jim Gebhard said the ATM Reyes used could have experienced a communication error due to some problems with the telephone lines.
Out of about 5,000 transactions a month, Gebhard said only 20 to 25 communication errors happen.
Gebhard said they have already completed the paper work that will allow Reyes to get his money.
He said it takes them only two days to work this out, but he’s not sure how long will it take for a local bank to complete the process.
Gebhard said their ATMs are sponsored by a U.S.-based bank.
Reyes, he said, should have report to them his experience with their ATMs.
He said it is against the law for them to keep a client’s complete card number so there’s no way they could know right away who the cardholder was when things like this happen.
