Why Bank Mandiri Doesn't Reimburse Asrizal's Rp128 Million

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - A customer named Asrizal Askha lost Rp128 million in Bank Mandiri. The funds are known to be lost when they want to withdraw their balance at an independent cash machine (ATM) on February 6, 2021. The case of the loss was widely discussed on social media Twitter some time ago.

Then, can the lost funds be returned?

The management of PT Bank Mandiri Tbk confirmed that it will not reimburse Asrizal Askha's Rp128 million. Because there has been a valid transaction with Mandiri debit card and pin.

Bank Mandiri Corporate Secretary Rudi As Aturridha said it had conducted an internal investigation for 11 working days related to the loss of Funds belonging to Asrizal. Once, the investigation is complete it cannot make reimbursements. Because it was found that there was a leak of ATM pins belonging to Asrizal.

"Based on the internal investigation, the disputed transaction is a valid transaction with the appropriate Mandiri Debit Card and PIN so that Bank Mandiri is not responsible and cannot provide reimbursement for the lost funds," he said when contacted, Sunday, May 23.

Victims of crime

Based on the recording of customer complaints to 14000 call centers, Rudi estimates that customers have been victims of crime by debit card exchange mode and PIN mastery. Because the debit card held by the customer is different from the debit card registered with Bank Mandiri. While the card used to transact is no longer in the customer's possession.

"We have also communicated and followed up on the issue to customers and other relevant parties," he said.

Reflecting on Asrizal's case, Rudi appealed to all Bank Mandiri customers to maintain their Mandiri Debit card. This includes maintaining the confidentiality of the PIN number.

"Do not inform anyone, including people who claim to be employees of Bank Mandiri," he said.

Chronology of the loss of Rp128 million

This incident began when a customer named Asrizal wanted to withdraw his savings balance at a standalone cash machine (ATM) on February 6, 2021. According to Asrizal, the money at his ATM should amount to Rp128 million. However, when checking the ATM balance is empty or Rp0.

Asrizal was confused. He immediately called the contact center of Bank Mandiri to ask about the problem. The call center officer at that time stated that there had been a withdrawal and transfer transaction with the same card number as the customer.

Whereas at the time of the transaction, the customer's ATM card is in his personal wallet. Then on February 8, 2021, customers visited Bank Mandiri Melawai branch, South Jakarta, to get a more detailed answer.

Bank officials at that time immediately changed atm cards on the grounds that there are funds entered at the same time. Customers are also asked to wait for the investigation process. However, after conducting an investigation, Bank Mandiri stated that it will not be responsible for replacing the lost funds.

News of the loss of funds of up to hundreds of millions went viral on social media Twitter. In fact, yesterday the hashtag Mandiri had become trending. The netizen claimed to be worried about the security of funds in banking because of the incident experienced by Asrizal.