The banking service through automated teller machines and card-based transactions collapsed on Saturday because of the country-wide power outages. As Saturday was weekly holiday for banks the normal banking service, however, was not affected, said bankers.
In many businesses, where POS (point of sale) machines are used to receive payments, use of the credit or debit cards except the ones of Dutch-Bangla Bank were declined as they failed to establish connection to the central server of the banks concerned.
They said most of the ATMs could provide backup for maximum two hours while the ATMs in the banks’ branches could provide power backup for around five hours.
‘The ATMs provided service for two hours with backup power after the power outage at around 11:30am. The ATMs in the branch offices could provide the service until evening before going dead,’ Eastern Bank managing director Ali Reza Iftekhar told New Age on Saturday evening.
BRAC Bank managing director Syed Mahbubur Rahman also said most of the ATMs of the bank went out of service in the evening.
‘We do not have the logistics to provide power backup for such a long period of time,’ he said.
Many people rushed to ATMs to get cash, mostly to buy grocery in a fear of shortage after the national grid collapse, but failed to get the money.
Ismail Ahmed, a service holder at a private firm, told New Age that he needed some grocery items but could not buy at one go as he failed to get cash from ATMs.
‘Banks are closed today and I have no other alternative to get cash as the ATMs are not working,’ he said.
-With New Age input
