ATM’s To Have Special Operating Hours during the Holidays
Monday, December 8th, 2008The Costa Rican State Banks have announced that they will be operating their ATM’s with a special schedule starting this week until around mid January. A specific end date hasn’t been announced but will most definitely be after the holiday season.
The Banco Nacional de Costa Rica, Banco de Costa Rica and Bancredito have all agreed on shutting down ATM operation from 10pm to 5am as an extra precaution in order to reduce crime rates during late hours.
In Costa Rica, workers from the private and public sector alike receive what is called an aguinaldo. The aguinaldo is the equivalent of a 13th month’s paycheck that is granted as a sort of Christmas Bonus so to speak. In addition to the holiday season money transactions and commerce that goes on, many citizens are unfortunately victims of ATM scams.
The State Banks made the decision as a contribution to social safety and encourage the private sector to do likewise. If you will be in Costa Rica during the holiday seasons and rely on the use of ATM’s for cash, please be aware that the majority of the ATM’s will not be operating from 10pm to 5am.
So far only the State Banks have confirmed their new schedule. Private Banks such as Scotia Bank, Citi Bank, Promerica and others have not yet announced if they will be following in this new measure.
