The repercussions of the attempted robbery of a Beryllium security team in St Thomas Saturday morning, snowballed over the weekend, through to Monday, as unserviced automated teller machines (ATMs) left many Jamaicans cashless and fuming.

On Sunday, National Commercial Bank (NCB) warned its customers in St Andrew, Kingston, and St Catherine to expect disruptions at its ATMs after Saturday’s attack in which a security guard and a civilian were injured by gunfire.

NCB further advised customers to use alternative options, such as online and mobile banking as well as point-of-sale machines where possible.

The Jamaica Observer was unable to reach NCB and Scotiabank officials for comment on Monday. However, late in the evening word came from JN Bank that servicing of ATMs had resumed, which would likely result in a return to normalcy today.

Earlier Monday, checks made by the Observer in Half-Way-Tree, New Kingston, and Cross Roads revealed ATMs with signs stating, “Out of service” and “Not working”.

Long lines of customers were seen at working machines. Some were heard complaining about the inconvenience.

In Half -Way-Tree, all four of the Scotiabank ATMs displayed blank screens, which caused some customers to flock the NCB branch nearby.

“The Scotia machine in Half-Way-Tree was down this morning so I came to NCB,” said one woman who gave her name as Ava.

A man who gave his name as Donovan, told the Observer that he had travelled from Spanish Town to Half-Way-Tree only to find that the Scotiabank ATMs were also out of service.

“This is probably my tenth stop at trying to get an ATM. I am coming from Spanish Town. It is that bad. It is unfortunate, but it’s where we are as a country,” he said.

“We understand what is happening but more can be done. The Government has a part to play because this is a part of the crime problem that we face,” he added.

Another man expressed frustration: “It’s like a disaster. Me a try this from early this morning I had a problem at New Kingston, so I had to come in Half-Way-Tree to deposit. It stressful,” he said.

In New Kingston, one woman who gave her name as Kay told the Observer that she had to spend extra taxi fare to find a working ATM.

“I went to Cross Roads, none of them are working, and I stopped at Oxford Road and it was the same thing. So I am here in New Kingston and this ATM seems to be working. This cost me more taxi fare and time because I have places I wanted to go and I am not going to cover all I had planned,” she said.

Another woman, who didn’t wish to share her name, said she was on her second trip to the CIBC FirstCaribbean ATM in New Kingston.

“Not having cash is really an inconvenience. I had to use wire transfers for transactions. I tried this machine earlier this morning and it wasn’t working so I decided to come back,” she said.

Meanwhile, in Cross Roads, only a few of the ATMs were in operation, causing longer wait times for customers.

Observer correspondents reported that there were out-of-service ATMs at the JN Bank and CIBC FirstCaribbean branches in Hendon, Savanna-la-Mar, as well as NCB and Scotiabank branches in Old Harbour, St Catherine.

However, ATMs in Ocho Rios, St Ann; May Pen and Chapelton in Clarendon were working.

Attacks on Beryllium security teams were carried out by gunmen in St Catherine in February and March.

In the February attack, at Portmore Pines Plaza, a Beryllium security guard was shot dead and two others injured. The gunmen escaped with $10 million in cash.

A few weeks later gunmen attacked another Beryllium team as they were about to service an ATM at the Scotiabank branch in Portmore and stole $23 million. In April a Beryllium vehicle was attacked by gunmen in an attempted robbery in Balaclava, St Elizabeth.

Early last month Deputy Commissioner of Police Fitz Bailey reported that the police have charged Shemar Yee with 12 offences in relation to the March attack on the Beryllium courier van at Scotiabank in Portmore.

Bailey also reported that six other people have been taken into custody in relation to the robbery.