On September 1, 2009, sixteen separate transactions withdrew a total of 40,000 RMB from the bank account of Guizhou resident Chen Xuebi. The withdrawals were made in the city of Huaihua, but Chen, who was in possession of her ATM card, was in Zunyi at the time.
So Chen sued, arguing that the Construction Bank had failed to protect her account.
The first decision found that the bank had not proven that it had taken the necessary security precautions and ordered it to compensate Chen’s for the lost 40,000 RMB plus 400 in transaction fees it had collected on the withdrawals.
The bank was more successful on appeal, announces today’s Chongqing Times, which republishes a report from CCTV:
The second court found that the PIN described by depositor Chen Xuebi was too simple, and because she had told her sister the PIN and allowed her to make withdrawals, the PIN could have been exposed in that manner. Secondly, the depositor, upon receiving text messages from the bank noting that someone had made a withdrawal, did not immediately report the PIN lost, which gave a third party the time to make withdrawals. Accordingly, main fault lies with depositor Chen Xuebi, who ought to assume primary responsibility for the loss. The court assigned the bank 40% responsibility, and ordered it to pay 16,160 RMB in compensation.
Chen’s PIN was not disclosed in the report.
- CCTV via Qingdao News: 40,000 stolen bank account; court says PIN too simple and finds depositor mostly at fault