ATM mistakenly dispenses $100 bills; bank lets customers keep the money

Christmas came early for some bank customers in Texas, United States when an automated teller machine (ATM) mistakenly dispensed $100 (around P5,200) bills instead of $10 (about P520) bills.

Bank of America said yesterday, Nov. 26 that they were aware of the cash machine error in Houston, as reported by KPRC-TV on the same day. The bank stated that they have addressed the situation and that customers can keep the extra bills they received.

“This was an incident at a single ATM in Houston caused when a vendor incorrectly loaded $100 bills in place of $10 bills,” the bank said in a statement, as per report. “We have resolved the matter. Customers will be able to keep the additional money dispensed.”

Authorities said that had the bank asked for the money back and the customers refused to return the bills, those who took advantage of the incident would have been charged with theft.

“There’s no free lunch,” Sgt. Joshua Nowick of Harris County Sheriff’s Office, financial crimes unit said in the report. “If you receive money that you know it is not yours, and you refuse to give it back upon demand, you can, at the discretion of the district attorney, be charged with theft.”

Apparently, the mistake was discovered on Sunday, Nov. 25, after a man withdrew cash from the ATM. The man was surprised when instead of spitting out $20 (around P1,000), the cash machine dispensed a $100 bill.

The ecstatic man posted the incident on social media, the report stated. His post went viral, prompting people to flock to the said ATM to get their hands on some extra cash.

People were able to take advantage of the mishap for two hours before the Department of Public Safety trooper alerted the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. The authorities dispersed the eager customers while the issue was being resolved.