Does anyone know the length of time it takes between the moment you stupidly drive off and leave your ATM in the machine and the time that it will hopefully keep it?

Uh oh, maybe this was a ATM copying your card? Call your bank or credit card company and ask for a new card and to disable the old one quick.

I don’t know, but I bet it’s about 60 seconds after it offers it to you. Probably no more than 3 minutes.

But just call the bank immediately. Also, they generally will reverse any charges made by people who steal your card, though in some cases that takes a couple of months (in one example I know of second-hand).

It’s 8:30 p.m. here. Everything is closed.

Many banks have 24 hour customer service lines and/or fraud services.

There’s always a 24h service for lost cards. The problem is that the number is written on the card you just lost.

The ATMs I’ve used swallow the cards a lot faster, certainly less than a minute. I guess you can always just set it, so it would be different for every bank.

As long as nobody was behind you to steal your card (and even then they’d need your PIN), you’ll be fine :)

I don’t think it takes very long… I think just about all ATMs are supposed to suck your card back in. be prepared though; some of them actually chop the card in half too. Had that happen… fun! lol

Good luck

@poofandmook Having my card chopped up would be better than the alternative of having someone use my card and wiping out my account.

I never knew ATM machines DID this! Good question.

@Quagmire The lesson here is to not watch an attractive guy walk down the street while conducting banking business.

@chyna, I never do!

My dad used to work in the banking industry – security and equipment. Most are now less than a minute. There is usually a place within the machine that stores the lost cards; however, the safest thing to do is to try to find a number to report the card as “eaten” by the atm machine, asap. I’m not sure if there was someone behind you or not, but keep in mind, machinery does fail.

I’ve had this issue before…I’ve lost 3 cards this way. major dork.

Unless whoever takes your card also knows your PIN, there isn’t a whole lot they can do with it. I suggest you try going online on your bank’s web site (or the site for that ATM machine’s bank) and see if they have an emergency number listed somewhere.

The only time an ATM “ate” my card was during banking hours, so I could just go inside and complain that it seemed to be hungry. One of the bank employees opened up the back of the ATM and retrieved my card for me.

They can do plenty online spending without the PIN.

However, you may have been lucky and an honest person has the card.

I went to the bank as soon as it opened this morning and the card was in the ATM. As soon as the machine takes the card back in, it shreds the card. So I had to order another one, but was glad they had it.

Thank goodness, you lucky girl!!!

@Zendo I know! I was sick over it all night. I imagined my whole account wiped out, all 64.87 of it. lol.

@chyna – At least you have $64.87 more than my son does, who just tried to hit me up for spending his birthday money a month before his birthday.

@Darwin You have to admire his spunk.

@chyna – But I don’t have to lurve it.

Update: Got my new card today, so it took 6 days. Yea!