Itaewon ATM Issued Invalid Check

An absurd incident occurred in which a bank issued an invalid banker’s check, and the customer who tried to use it was suspected of being a counterfeiter.

The incident happened on August 30. Cho (34) used an ATM machine at the Itaewon branch of Shinhan Bank to withdraw 300,000 won in cash and 100,000 won in banker checks, with a Shinhan Bank card.

Two days later, Cho was stunned when after trying to pay for a meal at a restaurant in Incheon International Airport, the owner said, “This is an unissued check. Check with the bank.”

“I was really speechless. I was trying to call the bank, but when the restaurant got busy, the owner basically told me to scram. I was suspected of making counterfeit checks.”

Cho went to the Shinhan Bank at the airport, and after accessing the check issue records, verified that the check was unissued and got 100,000 won in cash. However, the bank’s insincere attitude made him angry.

Cho retrieved the “unissued” records saved in the ATM machine of the Itaewon Branch, where the check was issued, and filed a civil petition with the Financial Supervisory Service, saying, “The bank should take responsible actions such as informing its customers of this incident.”

Manager Jeon Su-bok of the Shinhan Bank’s Itaewon branch responded to this by saying, “Electronically, the transaction was processed as being paid entirely in cash, but the machine processed both the cash and a check. I believe there was an error in the program of the ATM machine that was caused in the process of combining the electronic networks of Shinhan Bank and Chohung Bank.”

He added, “We have sent an official apology written by our president to the customer involved, and the electronic system has been corrected after the incident, so no more unissued checks have been given out.”

However, people in the financial circles are pointing out that if greater numbers of unissued checks had been given out due to errors in the ATM machines, it would have caused a great confusion in the market.

ssoo@donga.com