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Mizuho restores ATMs, online services after glitch

36 Comments
By Kevin Buckland and Takashi Umekawa

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36 Comments
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with a history of system woes stretching more than a decade.

A bit of an understatement.

On it's first day of creation April 2002 the poorly done attempt to merge the 3 separate bank systems by leaving all the separate systems in place and splicing them together shut thousands of customers out of their accounts, lost entire accounts for months.

I know they lost mine for nearly 4 months.

Had my card bank book but their system said it didn't exist.

Couldn't get my pay deposited, all my automatic payments like electricity, gas, phone, etc.. bills not paid.

No apologies, no compensation, nothing.

When they did finally find my account the blamed the IT company they hired to create the system to try and link it all.

Found out later that IT company as well as others warned the newly created bank that they could not guaranteed this attempt at linking would work but the management said do it anyway.

How that mess was left out of the article is strange.

15 ( +15 / -0 )

Card eating machines....lol!

10 ( +10 / -0 )

Mizuho Bank halts service at card-eating ATMs

The most hilarious news headline I have ever seen. Beware of the horrible card-eating ATMS! Hold on to your cards! LOL!

6 ( +6 / -0 )

"For customers whose cash cards, bank books, etc, have been taken, we will notify you and return the items at a later date."

At a later date.. if you need money in the mean time you are out of luck.

Great metaphor for how they play with your money in the fractional reserve banking scheme and when there is a banking crisis the banks lack the assets to cover it and need bailouts from the public treasury.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

This is what you get when old people without any clue and stubborn to adopt new idea are incharge, it is rife in this country, you see it in TV, fashion, entertainment and the worst being translations and websites.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

I GOT IT, must have got the virus, LOL

3 ( +3 / -0 )

What do you expect.... Dinosaur banks with dinosaur systems and practises that date back to the 80's.

The worst is that they don't care about the frustration they cause to their customers and that their customers don't do anything to change that!!!!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Some are card-eating and some are money-spitting.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

OR, the bank book or the card are infected and the machine out of concern for Public safety ATE THEM. Yummmmmmm.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

that their customers don't do anything to change that!!!!

Sure they do, they change banks, only one problem, all the banks are the same and people have very little choice.

This is not a Japan thing it is the same in most countries.

But the fastest growing bank in Japan is now 7i bank.

Most young people see no need to have a physical bank and are comfortable just having online and ATM.

Both my young adult children prefer it, as do most of their friends.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

"For customers whose cash cards, bank books, etc, have been taken, we will notify you and return the items at a later date."

Oh, you will? How nice to hear. Please choose the most convenient date for you. I don't need the card or bankbook for anything.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

It couldn't have happened to a better bank, or could it? It's sad to see the ATMs go down. They are actually friendlier and more helpful than the tellers! For foreigners in Japan, banks are already inconvenient enough, we don't need this too. I can't conclude that Japanese banks actually want my money.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@Sandy

¥100,000 in cash in your wallet all the time?

¥100,000 on Pasmo all the time?

Is that possible to charge the Pasmo with ¥100,000?

You are kidding, right?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

we will notify you and return the items at a later date.

No need for notifications. It is obvious that they have not been returned.

Many people need them now!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@zichi

I previously worked in IT security auditor in banks.

I know their security and wouldn't use internet banking with any of the major banks, not in Japan not in the USA not in Canada.

Basically if it was around before the internet I would avoid their internet banking.

Now banks like 7i that were created after the internet and rely near exclusively on internet and ATM.

Well they do much better as their base infrastructure was designed for it.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Is that possible to charge the Pasmo with ¥100,000?

You are kidding, right?

I will laugh out loud the day I see someone at a train station showing a ¥100,000 balance.

Unsure if that little screen next to the train gates even enough space to show 6 digits lol.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Anything to hang on to peoples money.

I think all planned. Government made billions on that one.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

After losing my card in an ATM machine at the beginning of Golden Week a few years back for incorrect PIN number entry, I stick to cash.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Mizuho suggests that people whose ATM cards have been eaten by Mizuho ATMs should use convenience store ATMs?!?

But those unfortunate people don't have their cards now, so they can't use any ATMs!

Out here in the inaka in Chiba-ken cash is a necessity.

For example, my doctor (G.P.) and ophthalmologist, and the pharmacy associated with their clinic, the local acupuncture/moxibustion/massage clinic, dentist, and orthopedic clinic, are all cash-only.

Food purchases can be made using cards or e-money if you shop at a supermarket or convenience store, but the small shops that sell local produce all take only cash.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@Monty

Please what bank was that?

I have ATM cards for several different banks and in 30 years never seen any with an expiration date.

Credit cards yes ATM cards no not even the post office.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

@Antiquesaving

It was a credit card, not a cash card.

Like you said, cash card don't have an expiring date.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

What To Do If the ATM Eats Your Card?

https://echeck.org/what-to-do-if-atm-eats-card/

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

@Monty

And now you know why I keep them separate.

Never get a combined card. That way you always have a backup plan if something happens to one of them.

I may be paranoid but having travelled a lot for business I learned to keep cash in one pocket, credit cards in another and ATM card in a different one. Also an emergency credit card not with the rest.

Lose any one and I still have something regardless where I am.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I think it's not unusual here in Japan to have multiple Bank accounts spread over different organisations, so maybe just an inconvenience ?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

An ATM outage is particularly painful in cash-loving Japan, where electronic money has only recently made inroads.

This says everything about the state of banking in this country , while in many so many countries where most transactions are online, here cash is king..any atm outage is like a panic situation.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

@drlucifer

''This is what you get when old people without any clue and stubborn to adopt new idea are incharge''

watch the press conference of the executives of Mizuho.

do you really think they are ''old'' ???

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

My credit card is my ATM card as well so it does have an expiration date.

Used it five minutes ago. No issues. Paying for our trip with it as well.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

@Antiquesaving

I may be paranoid

It is not paranoid, it is safe!

I should do It the same way like you do.

I am too careless with such things.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

And a PASMO with ¥100,000 on it at all times. But there are places in Japan that do not accept PASMO, so have other cards as well for our travels.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

My card was also eaten once in the past by a ATM machine.

But that was because the card I used was already expired and I did not received my new one.

But the banc apologized a lot to me, because it was their fault to forgot to send me the new card, before the old one was expired.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

What I wanted to point out with my post is that the Bank felt very guilty and they apologized a lot because my card was eaten by the machine.

They felt very sorry for all the inconvenience I had over that topic.

But it was not the Mizuho Bank.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

I carry three JP credit cards and two US cards. But cash is king. Never have less than ¥100,000 in my wallet.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

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