Turning ATMs Into Slot Machines

from the one-armed-bandits dept

Apparently, people aren't as interested in using ATMs in Japan, in part because Japanese banks charge a fee for using the machines. Of course, a simple solution to this would be to remove the fee, but apparently that's way too easy. Instead, the banks are experimenting with a plan to turn some ATMs into slot machines. Every time you do a transaction, you also get a typical slot machine display. If you "win" you can get a free transaction or even a bit of cash back (about $9).
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  • identicon
    nonuser, 20 Jul 2005 @ 7:22pm

    with my luck

    I would "hit the jackpot" with coins and bills flying around everywhere. Then on my next visit, the machine would inform me that I had a $0 balance.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    dorpus, 20 Jul 2005 @ 7:24pm

    Fate

    On top of that, ATM machines are open only during business hours. It's to prevent the poor bank clerks from losing their jobs. Incidentally, the security on the ATM machines is very poor, and various people (police officers, Pakistani tourists, Chinese students) have made lots of money from driving their cars into the machines late at night and making off with the cash.

    Many people in Japan keep their cash in safes at home, because the interest rate is about 0.05%. The more resourceful ones keep money in American banks. There are ways to make a modest living through "micro-importation", buying cheap goods in the USA and re-selling it in Japan, managing Japanese bank accounts in the USA, etc.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    dorpus, 20 Jul 2005 @ 7:29pm

    Speaking of which

    Just yesterday, two Japanese drug addicts drove their car into an ATM machine, took off with suitcases full of money, and in a scene straight out of Grand Theft Auto, they drove on the wrong side of the highway while being chased by cops, smashed into 3 cars, all of which went up in flames, and a total of 5 people were roasted alive.

    http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0720/OSK200507200062.html

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Pete Austin, 21 Jul 2005 @ 2:16am

    Memory Lane

    40 years ago I used to buy gum from a machine that would give you an extra stick about 25% of the time. This was a deliberate feature of the machines - not a mechanical error - and made them quite attractive to kids.

    I haven't seen them recently - I think they got banned by some gambling-control law intended to restrict slot machines. I wonder if these Japanese-style ATMs would have any similar legal problems in the EU or USA.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Pete Austin, 21 Jul 2005 @ 2:31am

    Re: Another Dorpus classic

    ATMs are very strong, so I thought it unlikely that a car could be used to break one open without destroying the car too.

    Here's Dorpus' story (in Googlish):
    To escape from job quality, 5 human being killed or being injured car destruction by fire Hyogo

    * It was a phone card vending machine, not an ATM
    * The car was trying to pull it from a telephone box with a rope, not crash into it
    * There were no suitcases of money
    * Two people died, three were injured

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Permanent4, 21 Jul 2005 @ 12:29pm

    Obvious one-liner

    If you bank with Citicorp, your ATMs may already be slot machines.
    *rimshot*

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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