When’s the last time you couldn’t get money from a cash machine due to a technical error?
It happened to me once last week. For whatever reason, it’s a recurring occurrence.
I once set a record with three failed ATM withdrawals. The first two were technical errors, the third one was just because the ATM was temporarily unavailable, due to maintenance apparently. The fourth one worked.
And before you ask, yes, I had funds. And yes, I did try different cards. And yes, it happens at different banks. Bank XY may work today but not tomorrow. Card XY may work here but not there. It goes on.
Since I began using credit/debit cards, which I’m afraid to say is nearly 20 years ago, I’ve had this problem happen to me at least four or five times each year.
And I generally withdraw cash once or twice a month, tops. So percentage wise, you’re looking at a terrible rate. It basically means for every 10 withdrawal attempts, at least two or three fail.
And it goes further.
For the vast majority of my daily purchases, I use a crypto-backed MasterCard. It’s tied to an exchange I’ve been using since 2016 (in fact, I used to work for them, different story).
Simple strategy. I wire funds from my bank to the exchange, spend and get cashback in crypto.
Yesterday, I used the card to purchase groceries. It worked, no problem. Also yesterday, I tried using the card to purchase something online. No luck. This morning, Netflix tried charging me for my monthly plan three times. No luck.
Why? Unclear. About half an hour from now, after I’m done with some urgent work stuff, I’ll move to a nearby cafe to work from there. I’ve no doubt the card will work seamlessly.
So why didn’t it work online? I don’t know. I guess I could get in touch with customer service but what would be the point? These things keep happening and I’ve no idea why. And they don’t either. “Everything seems fine on our side, and the funds are available,” is what they’d say.
I know because I heard this so many times.
Debit, credit, MasterCard, Visa, ATM, online, offline. It doesn’t matter. Occasionally, for whatever reason, one of my cards doesn’t work, arbitrarily, for no discernible reason.
And it’s never the same issue, although I should point out, looking back, online transactions seem to cause issues more often than physical ones.
Speaking of which.
In order to settle the Netflix bill I used a different card. Also from the same exchange, also MasterCard, also tied to the same exact account. But this one was virtual. And it worked.
This time.
I’ve crossposted this article on Publish0x.
bitcoinea 
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