www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Lotsa luck, fella. Another brilliant move by Ms. Del Vecchio.

Technology being derailed as crime-fighting tool
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

You are at the casino Friday night, and you have had a little run of bad luck. But you know the wheel is turning in your direction. You just need a little more cash.

Or you are at the bar and you meet your old college roommate and the talk turns to all night gab sessions and large quantities of beer. But you are low on cash.

Or maybe you are at the dance club, and you meet the love of your life. The perfect mate. But you want to buy flowers, rent a taxi and watch the sun come up over the Escazú mountains. You need to tap the bank account.

Sorry, you are out of luck if you are a Banco Nacional customer. A quick trip to the automatic teller will not do you any good late Friday night because the bank is taking its ATM machines off line to comply with a request by the security minister.

Banco Nacional, despite full-time advertising and promotional employees, likes to surprise its customers. Instead it was the ministry that said Tuesday that the bank will be closing down its automatic teller network at 10 p.m. Friday and every day afterwards until 5 a.m. the next morning.

The idea is to avoid what law enforcement officers call the paseo millonario in which bandits take victims to the teller machines and force them to withdraw cash at gunpoint.

Rather than catching the crooks, Janina del Vecchio, the security minister, has called on the banks to freeze the machines, thereby forcing the bandits to hold their victims hostage several hours longer.

This is one of the ministry's solutions to the increase in crime at the holiday season when a lot of money is on the street. The minister expressed her thanks to Banco Nacional Tuesday.

The Ministerio de Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública said Nov. 25 that the minister was urging this course of action. Other banks atm machines are expected to follow the example of Banco Nacional. Closing down the network is cheaper than providing guards at the machines, which are spread all over the country.

The minister is working with the Comisión de Seguridad Bancaria, a bankers' organization.

Banco Nacional did come out with a press release two weeks ago in which they discounted the myth that punching in an account's personal identification number backwards at the teller machine will summon the police. The idea has gained currency via the Internet, but the machines do not work that way.

Although such a panic code has been patented in the United States, even banks there have been reluctant to institute the system. And in Costa Rica the police may never arrive.

Anyway, the casino always wins, so Ms. Vecchio will be saving a lot of gamblers money. And drinking lots of beer late at night is what got you into trouble during university anyway.

As to the perfect mate, if she is perfect, she'll settle for coffee at Chelles instead of flowers and an expensive sunrise.

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"The only normal people are those you don't know very well." Joe Ancis

I cant believe that the ATMs inside the hotel will be shut down at 10pm. The chicas won't stand for it. How many times has a monger needed to hit the cash machine for that pricey TLN when hes was a little short?

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Why settle for just one woman when you can enjoy them all?

The only bank that has enacted that policy, which was asked for by the school teacher turned security minister, is BN. We will have to see what, if any, private banks or other public bank follow their lead.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

If your card is from a non CR bank, it won't be a problem. And so far it's only Banco National, which is sadly my bank. But it'll probably save me money, no more late night WTFs at the Del Rey machine.

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"The only normal people are those you don't know very well." Joe Ancis

Can't wait to see the reaction by Her Imperious Self or the hubby needing to hit an ATM after hours some night. Got any rogue coders that want to take a run at her CC numbers, maybe freeze'm up? Oh, the howls of outrage!! Not that I'm endorsing or inducing criminality, you understand...

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

Well then it sounds like the wheels of commerce at the little pink hotel will roll on without a glitch...

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Why settle for just one woman when you can enjoy them all?

It has now spread to most all of the ATM's operated by the state banks. Should the private banks, or even worse the networks, follow suit it will be very difficult to get late night cash.

Inside Costa Rica this morning.

"No ATM's At Night At State Banks

The Banco de Costa Rica (BCR) said yesterday it will join the unprecedented move by the Banco Nacional de Costa Rica (BN) to shut down its Automated Teller Machines (ATM's) at night. The BCR has 408 ATM's, while the BN has 396.

Both state banks will turn off their ATM's between 10pm and 5pm in all parts of the country. The BCR machines will go offline tonight, while the BN machines will go offline tomorrow night.

The banks are trying to ward off robberies at occur at night, especially in high risk areas where customers at ATM's are vulnerable.

The other state bank, Bancrédito, is expected to join the closures, but no official announcement has yet been made. At the Banco Popular, the entity is looking at identifying the high risk areas and shut down only those machines.

So far none of the private banks who mainly connect their ATM's with ATH's network have announced any closures.

The nightly closures are in response to an increase in attacks of customers at ATM machines, especially at night, and to avoid the practice of criminals who take their victims for a ride to various ATM machines to empty out accounts. The practice is being called by the banks as "paseo millonario"."

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

This is what happens when you hire a math teacher as your security minister. She has no idea how to remove the cause, so she decides to put a band-aid on a symptom. This type of robbery is called "express kidnapping" and yes... now the robbers will hold you longer... over night... until the ATMs open. Or they will just haul your around and beat you until they find an ATM that is working.

I give the math teach a C-

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http://TipsCostaRica.com for pratical advice on living in Costa Rica.
In order to write about life, first you must live it! - E. Hemingway.

There is an obvious solution to the problem of crime here which I feel sure will be addressed by the current administration. What they will do eventually is just impose a curfew in San Jose (or the whole country, wtf) from 10 pm till 6 am. That way they can free up police to stand in groups and chit chat in the Plaza de la Cultura.

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"The only normal people are those you don't know very well." Joe Ancis

What is the latest word on this topic
Did it last for day or is it being enforced?

The only follow up I have seen was that HSBC, a private bank, was instituting the policy too.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Maybe it is a good thing. In general bad decisions are made after 10 pm. Drunken impulse buys.... Ok, maybe that was just me.. haha