ATM outsmarts my Free Will :)

In Bangalore… No cash… hunt for an ATM begins!!! HDFC ATM peeps at me from behind the Shilton hotel…. I negotiate the traffic to quench my wallet’s thirst… on the way, I calculate the number of times this month, I have used a non-my-bank ATM … only once… I am safe… won’t have to pay the fees… I insert the card…

“Enter your pin”

- Continue

- Cancel

“Type of account”

- Savings

- Current

“Enter amount”

- Continue

- Cancel

“Do you want a printed receipt?”

- No

- Yes

I thought for a sec, looked around and said WOW!!!

No, I wasn’t amazed at the mystery of a machine throwing money at me… neither had the machine thrown out some extra notes of paper to amaze me. Rather, I was amazed because it hadn’t!!! It dint give me the printed receipt of the transaction... even when I wanted it to!!!

Here is the reason. By the end of the first three questions, the machine got me into a habit of pressing the first button every time… and when it asked me about the transaction receipt, I pressed “No”… Out of habit!!!

When I looked around, the waste bin (where we tear and throw the transaction receipts) was almost empty. Which meant, either it was emptied recently or the order of “No”/ “Yes” buttons actually worked… and saved paper!!!

If a small consumer behavior trick like this is emulated by all the banks at every ATM, a lot of paper would be saved. Don’t you think so? :)

-- Go GREEN people!!! Its a soothing color :)