Following a festive season that included way too many people being defrauded and robbed at ATMs in Namibia, the question needs to be posed - who is responsible for your safety when using an ATM?

Is it the Shopping Centre in which the ATM is found? is it the Security company contracted to ensure the safety of the people using the facilities on offer in the shopping centre? is it the bank that owns and operates the machine you are transacting on? or as all of the above will most likely try to tell you, is it you and you alone?

There is only so much an individual can do though to protect themselves at an ATM, you are inherently vulnerable with your back to the world, and while the ATM does supply a little mirror it only alerts you to a presence by the time it is too late for you to do antything about being surounded - it becomes even more difficult when it is glaringly apparent that the security guards are in on the action and conveniatnly dissapear just before you are surrounded. It is impratical to have someone with you at all times to protect you at the ATM and the bank suggesting that you only use an ATM that is adjacent to a branch, therefore affording you greater protection takes away from the convenience promised by ATMs.

As a customer, utilising a product offered by the banks (and for which you pay) you should be guarnteed protection, you should at the least be guaranteed that should something go wrong the bank has proceedures in place to limit your financial liability. This is unfotunatley not the case though and should you find yourself defrauded at an ATM through a straight out robbery or having your card cloned and used before you can cancel it the bank will not admit to any liability whatsoever. No matter how long you have been a client and how much you have paid for the service offered over the years you will see for a fact that to them you are nothing but another cash generating client, nothing but anouther faceless number they extract fees from!