JensenZ

What people don't know, they don't miss. If people had never experienced the Internet, TV, cell phones, refrigerators, electricity. modern medicine etc, would their lives have been any better or worse? If people expect to die, for example, between the ages of 40 and 50 (on average), they won't expect to retire and live in nursing homes into their 80's and 90's. One thing is certain. modern medicine has weakened the gene pool of humanity. There's no more "only the strongest survive", but now everyone (can) survive... and thus spreading inferior genes that would never have survived centuries ago. Of course this only applies to people living in developed nations. The poor in undeveloped nations are still dying young.

I haven't lived back at home for nearly 20 years (Australia), and never lost a card there when I did, so I was unfamiliar with International policy, but if I'm outside a Siam Commercial Bank in a shopping mall, whose ATM retained my K-Bank card, I did expect I would have it returned. If it was an international card they would return it.... but of course, as you say, it's very easy and quick to get a replacement. My main reason for posting about this was to warn people to be extra careful about not forgetting ATM cards in machines. I've done it more than once.

For sure, there's no problem getting a new one. I can go into a branch and buy a new one at any time. I just wasn't very fond of their policy to destroy cards rather than open up a machine and return them. Aparently it's a nationwide policy, not an individual bank policy.

This is a good reason to keep ATM withdrawals small if you're using ATMs that you're not familiar with, or in other countries. I choose my ATMs carefully, but never withdraw large amounts from any machine not from my own bank, and preferably in a mall during banking hours, so that if there was a problem, I could go inside and report it. Not too long ago a Kasikorn ATM ate my card (I walked away and forgot to take it out). I went inside and not long after they had opened the machine and returned it to me. Unfortunately this can only happen at main branches. At all other ATMs if the card is eaten, I need to go to pay for a new one. This applies for Thailand bank issued cards only.

No doubt, but ATMs in the Philippines are a rare commodity compared to Thailand. When you live in a smaller town in the Philippines, you don't really have a lot of choices, unfortunately, when your nearest branch could be in the nearest city, a long way from home. I've been lucky and never had a problem in many years of ATM withdrawals in PI. They have a new popular method of using bank cards, at a local store which provides a cash withdrawal service, that charges about 30 pesos (or maybe 50) to make a withdrawal from a card.

The first method, the blocking device, is an interesting method I was unaware of. Seems to be the most dangerous one of them all if it can be pulled off.