Raiffeisenbank Hochtaunus is located in the German state of Hessen. At first glance, it is an ordinary cooperative bank. But the small bank has announced an even more unusual move that marks a comeback in the financial world: it wants to deploy its ATMs this year! CEO Achim Brunner (53) justified this decision by a lack of demand. “We had only two visitors an hour lately,” he says.
Could this small bank in Hochtaunus now also be a big role model for banks in Switzerland for security reasons? Swiss ATMs were blown up, robbed, robbed. In 2022, 22 of them were blown up in Switzerland. For comparison: there were only four such attacks in 2018.
Swiss ATMs have over half a million cash
Switzerland is a popular destination for Sprengers who hope to fill their pockets generously. Because huge sums of money await in the machines in this country: sometimes more than half a million francs! For example, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s indictment regarding an explosion at Buchberg SH shows that the safe of the machine contained a total of 502,510 francs and 80,335 euros.
But the expectation of great loot is not the only incentive for perpetrators. Security expert Peter Villiger told the “Luzerner Zeitung” that ATMs are often poorly protected against such explosions. One way to prevent attacks is to install an ink system that his company sells. In the event of an explosion, the coin would be painted with ink, rendering it unusable. But according to Villiger, major Swiss banks have only partially equipped their ATMs with this ink system.
Villiger has warned of ATM crackers for years and paints a bleak picture of the “Luzerner Zeitung”: “I assume the number of ATM explosions will double next year.” (Hey)