People in east Christchurch took to social media to express their shock after using the newly installed ATM machines at Eastgate Mall in Linwood.
Customers were informed while using the machines, operated by Next Payments NZ, they would be charged $7.50 for each transaction.
Residents planned to organise a gathering to protest the threatened charges, calling them “disgusting” and “criminal”.
On Monday morning, Next Payments NZ confirmed the charge was an ATM screen error - caused by a wrong file being loaded on the screen files.
Wibo Basoma, general manager of Next Payments NZ, said the issue has now been addressed and resolved.
Basoma said all transactions were checked by the company and no customer has been charged the advertised fees. All transactions were “processed at a zero fee”, he said.
However, he did confirm the ATMs would only be fee-free for the first three months of their operation before a standard fee of $2.80 per successful cash withdrawal would be introduced.
The fee will allow Next Payment to “deliver continued support for all cardholders to access their bank account and perform either a cash withdrawal or balance inquiry at a safe and secure location” at the shopping mall.Basoma apologised to the public for the screen error and said the company regrets the mistake.
“Next is sincerely apologising to all cardholders and management at [the mall].”
