Limit on ATM transfers sparks outrage

Eight phone lines at the Bankers' Association were swamped with calls yesterday, said Elton Li (李蔭棠), chief of the consulting services center at the Bankers' Association.

According to Li, one angry caller said that if the government is incapable of hunting down criminals making use of ATM money transfers, "Why not just dismantle all ATMs to avoid frauds once and for all?"

Shia Ben-chang (謝邦昌), professor of statistics and information science at Fu Jen Catholic University, urged the government to take all factors into account before implementing such a big change.

Although stemming ATM fraud is a pressing issue, Shia suggested taking gradual steps to lower the ceiling on transfers, instead of cutting the limit to one-tenth at once.