My card was taken by an ATM near my hotel in New Zealand. Has this happened to anyone else? Solution?
My Canadian Visa debit was taken by a BNZ ATM in Wellington. I thought it was a glitch, but the screen said “Card retained for security reasons.” I went into the branch first thing the next morning and was told they do service those machines but they couldn’t return my card because I wasn’t a BNZ account holder. They destroy foreign cards as a blanket policy. Luckily, I had a backup Mastercard and was able to continue the trip. New Zealand’s banking system is super secure, but definitely not flexible when it comes to retrieving foreign cards.
Same thing happened to me in Queenstown last month ANZ ATM near my hostel swallowed my Wise debit card. The branch was closed for the weekend, so I contacted Wise support who told me to immediately block the card in-app. I went to the branch on Monday and was told they do not return international cards due to fraud prevention policies. The staff were polite but firm. Lesson learned: never use outdoor ATMs late in the day, and always carry a backup card just in case something like this happens.
I had my card taken by a Westpac ATM in Christchurch turned out I’d entered the wrong PIN three times. The machine just swallowed it and said nothing more. I called the number printed on the ATM, and Westpac support told me that because it was a foreign-issued card, they wouldn’t return it for security reasons. I had to freeze it through my app and reorder a replacement. Apparently, this is standard practice in NZ: if the card isn’t from a local bank, they destroy it regardless of the reason it was retained.
This happened to me in Auckland in April my Monzo card was swallowed by a Kiwibank ATM near the Viaduct area. It was after hours, so I couldn’t go inside the branch immediately. I returned the next morning with my passport, and the staff were great. Since it was their own ATM, and I had ID, they were able to retrieve the card from the vault. But they made it clear that if I hadn't come within 24 hours, the card would’ve been destroyed. If it’s a branded bank ATM and close by, go in early the next business day and bring ID.
After entering my PIN wrong twice, ANZ blocked my card and I had to request a new one. Frustrating.
Used the BNZ ATM in New Zealand-easy to withdraw cash and the staff nearby were super friendly to help me retreive my blocked card ffrom the ATM