Your assumption is my account is at my local branch. Neither is my safe deposit box. It's at a different, larger branch in the adjacent suburb. My 'account' is likely in one of their corporate monoliths downtown, hence the network connection. That's why my card works as well in Virginia (my most recent trip) as it does at my local branch in LA. My local ATM also needs access to other bank networks if they have any hope of collecting that usury fee for not-my-bank customers using the teller. It's about the Benjamins. I completely agree with your second point but don't expect change until outside forces affect change in the current business model. Just my 2ยข. Best regards, ______________________________ Al Rowland
-----Original Message----- From: owner-nanog@merit.edu [mailto:owner-nanog@merit.edu] On Behalf Of alex@yuriev.com Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2003 9:47 AM To: Al Rowland Cc: nanog@merit.edu Subject: RE: Banc of America Article
IIRC, the ATM system is similar to CC transactions. A best effort is made to authorize against your account (Credit Card or Banking) but if it fails and the transaction is within a normal range (your daily card limit) the CC/ATM completes the transaction.
Too bad it is not the case, but lets presume that it is. How does it explain branches not being able to process direct withdrawals either?
The incident on hand illustrates that the design of our financial networks is broken. If a non sophisticated worm managed to create so many problems, what is going to happen should a real attack be mounted against the networks used by financial services?
Alex