Rabobank hires guards to protect ATMs against bombings

Dutch bank Rabobank is hiring security people to stand guard at ATMs at night in an effort to reduce the number of ATM bombings, AD reports. The guards will mainly be placed at ATMs located near apartment complexes and in quiet areas. ATMs that don't get a guard will have extra surveillance and patrols from security companies. For security reasons, the bank would not tell AD how many guards wil be deployed.

According to AD, 79 ATMs were bombed last year. And criminals are using increasingly powerful explosives. In Doetinchem a number of homes were evacuated last week after an ATM bombing. After that Rabobank announced that it will be taking extra measures against this form of robbery. In March part of the Rabobank building in Vinkel, Noord-Brabant collapsed after an ATM bombing.

The bank already moved or closed 20 ATMs and will do the same to seven more in Gelderland in the near future. Rabobank will also close machines that are rarely used with shutters or steel plates at night. Rabobank is still looking for a definitive solution, but will keep these security measures in place until one is found.

A Rabobank spokesperson told AD that the bank has 2,000 ATMs in the Netherlands. Many of them are located in shopping centers, which are locked at night.

Other Dutch banks told the newspaper that they are not taking any additional measures against ATM bombings at present.