BSP ATMs damaged during festive season

Business

THREE Bank South Pacific (BSP) automated teller machines (ATMs) were damaged during the festive season, including the one at Lorengau Hospital which was damaged by criminals trying to steal the cash on Friday.
BSP said, in a statement yesterday, that the ATM at the hospital was one of the bank’s four ATMs in Lorengau and the destruction caused was irreparable and would cause great inconvenience to people in the province.
General manager (retail) Daniel Faunt expressed his disappointment that criminals deliberately vandalised and destroyed an ATM without any regard of the impact on people in the area, many of whom would be known to the criminals.
“BSP is the only commercial bank that provides services to the people of Manus and the only bank to have ATMs in Lorengau,” he said.
Flaunt added that there were some minor damages done to ATMs at Wewak and Kiunga during the Christmas and New Year period as well.
The destruction of the ATMs came only a month after a robbery at BSP’s Kerema sub branch that has resulted in Kerema branch being closed until criminal investigations are completed.
At the same time, there was also an attempted robbery at BSP’s sub branch at Hoskins.
BSP group chief executive officer Robin Fleming commented that in all three locations – Kerema, Hoskins and Lorengau – BSP was the only bank providing banking services to those areas despite the cost of operations and, where robberies were involved, it posed a high risk for the bank’s staff.
“BSP does all it can to provide services to customers and non-customers alike around PNG notwithstanding the cost of doing so,” he said.
“This responsibility is carried by BSP disproportionately with other banks choosing only to operate where it is profitable.”
Meanwhile, Faunt further commented that BSP staff had been proactively monitoring its ATM fleet over the Christmas and New Year period with more than 100 staff country wide working overtime to top up ATMs with cash and attend to the ATMs to keep as many as possible operational during this period.
“Therefore, the destruction of the ATM at Lorengau was disappointing.”

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