After battling the coronavirus, we could all use a little "monkey business"

As the editor for ATM Marketplace, I am constantly looking at various news sources to bring you the latest updates in the ATM industry. I speak with industry experts and confer with various organizations as well as interview advertisers on new products that can help this industry. It's my job and I love it, but for the past two months the coronavirus has factored into just about every conversation I've had.

The majority of stories ATM Marketplace has covered since March has been about the virus and the impact it has had on businesses and people throughout the world.

As we all can attest, it's been a time of tension, frustration and fear as people we know and love, people we work with and people we admire have been affected by this pandemic. 

We've learned new words and phrases such as "social distancing" and  "COVID-19"and "flatten the curve." To say we have all been under a great deal of stress and strain is an understatement. Not to lessen the seriousness and severity of what everyone has been through, but I think now that restrictions are starting to be lifted, we could all use a little coronavirus reprieve. And thanks to a curious primate in India, I am happy to bring this news item to your attention.

Earlier this month, a banker in New Delhi went to enter the State Bank of India, located near the presidential palace and a few minutes from the capital. As he walked inside the vestibule, he noticed the ATM machine had been severely vandalized. The front of the machine had been torn off, but it wasn't apparent if any money was stolen. The banker assumed an attempt to rob the ATM had somehow been interrupted, and he immediately contacted the police.

When the police arrived, they viewed the bank's CCTV footage and were stunned at who (or in this case, what), was responsible for the damage. A monkey (A Rhesus Macaque for those of you up on your monkey species) had managed to wander through the door of the bank's ATM vestibule. No card, no code, just walked right in. To see the CCTV video click here.

At first, he (and I am assuming it was a "he" but there has been no official confirmation at this point) became distracted by posters and the ability to race around the small area much like a NASCAR driver. Finally, his attention turned to the ATM machine and with the cool determination of a safecracker (but none of the tools), he managed to yank the front of the machine off and expose the internal hardware.

At this point maybe he felt some guilt, or maybe he heard someone approach, or maybe his bills were all paid, but without grabbing even a single dollar, he jumped down and simply strolled right out the door into the night.

Monkeys in India are often at fault for causing mischief from everything from stealing food to cutting power lines. However, this may be the first time a monkey attempted to rob an ATM. Of course, if he went back and told his monkey pals how he did it there could be more reports of ATM-robbing monkeys coming on the horizon.

As this story and video gained traction in the media, other reports of monkeys, including one primate that was actually flying kites off a rooftop, started coming in.

I personally think monkeys, like the rest of us, are just looking for ways to de-stress during the pandemic. 

Stay safe and be well.