Till then, our next funny story occurred when one of our party (let’s call him “J”), inserted his ATM cash card into an online banking terminal. For those of us who are only familiar with US consumer banking practices, we are SO behind in the US. Suffice to say, Germany is a cashless society, most people either pay their bills online via the internet, or they go into a branch and use an automated banking machine to transfer money for bill payment.
Important Note: These machines can look a bit like ATM machines (minus the place to dispense cash). Of course, the writing on the machine and on the display screen is only in German, too! So, it is conceivable that a non German-speaking tourist would not know the difference. So, when the words “push – abort” flash on the screen (in German), you can kinda figure that one might not necessarily know what to do.
Bottom line: this is a great method for getting your ATM cash card lodged in a non-ATM machine. Now, what is a tourist to do when he/she must depend on this little plastic card in a foreign country? Answer: step inside the branch and introduce yourself to a bank employee.
So, it was with some trepidation that we walked into the Munich Old Town Deutsche Bank branch to speak with an English speaking banking employee and tell her, “Oops, sorry, ‘J’ has gotten his cash card stuck in the banking terminal machine”. She laughed…apparently this happens quite frequently (as was evidenced by the fact that two ATM cash cards were retrieved from the bowels of the online banking terminal; “J’s” and someone else’s.). We only waited about 10-15 minutes for this retrieval to occur; it was quite an easy remedy.
“J” was then instructed to the use the outside cash machine. Ah, the sweet smell of success.
Moral of the story: Press Red to abort!
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