The story about a member depositing methamphetamine into an ATM instead of cash raises concerns about risks arising from contaminated or unhealthy materials being deposited into ATMs, possibly exposing employees to unhealthy substances (CU Journal, Feb. 18). In opening up a deposit envelope like the one in this story, would airborne particles of illegally-refined meth pose a serious health hazard to the cashier servicing the ATM? What if the deposit was enclosed in a plastic zip-lock bag damaged during insertion into the ATM?
If this ATM user belonged to your credit union, would this member’s account be placed in a restricted status pending resolution of the criminal charges (i.e. no ATM usage or checkwriting), or would they be summarily expelled from the credit union?
This 18-year-old woman at the center of this bizarre ATM deposit committed an unlawful transaction, but perhaps her mistaken ATM deposit could be the “wake-up call” she needs to obtain help to deal with substance abuse issues.
Stand-up comedians will exploit the humor and irony of this story during the next few days, but I’m more interested in how credit unions and banks would actually deal with the aftermath of such an embarrassing mistake by a client.
Ron Bensley, Seatac, Wash.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Credit Union Journal encourages reader feedback. Letters to the Editor can be sent to Managing Editor Lisa Freeman at lfreeman
