Only big notes out of ATM MCB!

ATM Mauritius
Being both a MCB and SBM client, I usually withdraw money from both ATM’s…

The difference?

Take out more than Rs200 or Rs500 and you will know the difference…

Case study : Withdrawing Rs1000….

1000 Bank Note Mauritius

I have to buy a tshirt costing Rs300…

@ SBM’s ATM:

1. Enter pin code

2. Go to the withdraw menu

3. Select rs1000…

The ATM will issue a total of Rs1000 in the following notes:

1 x Rs500
2 x Rs200
1 x Rs100

Same situation, now at MCB’s ATM…

1. Repeat steps done at SBM’s ATM, mentioned above (akoz Deepa pane comprend)

The following notes will be issues:

1 x Rs1000

Simply that! Damn it!

Now I will have to move around with my Rs1000 note, looking for change!

And most of the shops around will refuse to change that note, unless you buy something!

“Sorry missier, pena chanzer!”

Similar situations

Unfortunately, the algorithm used by MCB to generate the notes issued is indifferent whether the person withdraws Rs1000 or even Rs200!

Go and withdraw Rs200 or Rs500, you will get a single bank note in return!

Fortunately at SBM, the machine splits out the total amount into different bank notes…


I find this very inconvenient for the MCB users, and I dont know how it comes that nobody ever wrote about this?

Its not really a ‘complaint’, but rather a suggestion for a better service for the customers…

After all, Le client est roi!

Does someone ever noticed this ?

btw, am going to forward this to the persons concerned, feel free to express yourself…

23 thoughts on “Only big notes out of ATM MCB!

Add yours

  1. The last 2 times I withdrew money from MCB I was indeed surprised to be given a 1000 Rs Note each time. Just thought that the ATM was short of cash. Did not realise it was their new way of distributing money.

    Anyway its 1000 times better to be going at SBM than MCB ATMs for withdrawing money. Any of you ever noticed the queue at any MCB ATMs. Really sucks.

    Ebene is a nice example there are always a queue of 6-7 people at MCB’s and only 1-2 at SBMs. MCB as No 1 Bank on the island in terms of customers should really have more ATMs around what 1 million for these banks. (The actual cost of such machines). Poor Bank :p


  2. Hehe…I never made the difference because I dunno my pin code for my sbm account…so never withdrew money from SBM’s ATM…But as regards MCB’s ATM, I did get my amount in small amounted notes…:S


  3. The MCB ATMs are most inconvenient for visitors too. Getting only Rs 1000 notes is a big problem not only for shopping but for taking a taxi or bus. I use a European bank card and I no longer go to the MCB ATMs but use SBM instead, much more convenient.


    1. @Mike : Exactly!

      @Bhooks : We, as customers, need to voice out the customer needs… the only way to make us noticeable in the eyes of those big banks!

      @Carrot : Rightly said, or perhaps someone forgot to test the algorithm 😛

      @Chaya : lol, perhaps it was out of big bank notes


  4. never actually noticed that… good finding…
    koi que i remember getting smaller notes when i bought lots of 1k stuffs form kfc… mo ti al tir kass mcb.. enfin pas sure.

    probably you are right.


  5. ecrire de mal mcb a coz li rode donne toi sa to fine dimander. select less ta piti. ki to fir ar likid ta piti. servi to card debit credit ta piti. aret ecrite movai lor compani san compren kifer sa eter. li promouvour plastic ar sa metod la. to pa satisfait, cancel to account ta piti. to lesprit piti yem mo pa pou ofanse toi et dir ki to ssever couma laker sate.

    *moderated by Yashvin*


    1. @Raymond : haha, to pas honter, to p passe pu bouffon lo sa blog la, sans ofanse toi

      @All : Read Raymond’s comment… typical of behaviour of jealous and good-for-nothing people…


  6. Yashvin, this is not always the case,

    its true you might get a Rs 1000 note but at times you might get it in small change as well 🙂

    most probably it depends on the ATM


  7. La fin lanee la, shopping time, tou dimoune p gagne bonus etc,
    ki v dire most customers ki tire kas sa lepok la tire buku….
    mo penser kas changer p fini lacoz ena buku trasaction ki p fer…

    Barclays si mo p gagne zis billet milles. Its only a good thing when u need several thousands in cash.

    Major difference ki mone remarker btw MCB v/s SBM ATM c ban steps ki ena.

    1 Enter Card
    2 Enter PIN
    3 Do Transaction (…)
    4 Retrieve Card
    5 Collect Money

    1 Enter Card
    2 Enter PIN
    3 Do Transaction (…)
    4 Collect Money
    5 Retrieve Card

    Its more practical to have ur card 1st then ur money,
    @ Which ATM do u have a higher risk of 4getting ur card wen in a hurry???


  8. Hi
    This article is really interesting. A lot of issues are linked:

    1 Customer satisfaction in mauritius (which i believe exist in very few exceptional cases)

    2 Can someone tell me ene place ki zotte ine aller,et zotte pane tass dans ‘la queue’,supermarkets,prend bus,alle tire ID cards,Driving tests,hospitals,jobs(pou seki p rode travail et tout)….

    3 As for MCB,lors ene zaffaire yes li batte SBM….C’est u take ur card first…Ene cam so carte ti bloke,SBM,et pas coze time wasted…

    4 Maybe,what the banks can do: why not introduce an option where the customer can choose ki banne billets li envie…like si
    if i need Rs 300,let me choose banne billets la….(Astere mo pas conne ki banne banks pense lors la,coz ena costs,technology,recession,investments,security et patati patata,…ki bisin take into considerationS)

    A+ banne cams


  9. @ raymond
    ki fer to bizin mette “piti” dans tout to ban phrase???

    mo trouver la coupe lake sate bien à la mode en ce moment, next time mo pu ale cot mo coiffeur i’ll surely ask him pou fer ene lacoupe lake sate avec moi! tvr


  10. @Bhooks: The queue difference is because most mauritian use mcb for their saving account rather than sbm.

    I do withdraw at mcb and i think it dpends on the ATM because i often get mutiple small notes and at times also get 1 big 1000. It depend on the ATM i guess.

    @Raymon: “”li promouvour plastic ar sa metod la.””??????? WTF? Cot sa argument plastic la sorti dan this article???

    @Splash: SBM dir prend ou cash blie ou card! MCB dir prend ou cash blie ou cart. 😛

    Personally i think sbm are really slow!! The sbm of reduit….and vacoas…pheeww…. mo gagne letemp fer 3 transaction mcb for one of sbm!… However the inside deco of sbm look pli cool.


  11. MCB bien meilleur. laccueil laem mari different. ale faire ene letour mcb kot municipaliT plouis la ! apres zot service plus rapide. en tout cas moi sans aucun doute MCB.


  12. et aussi yash li depane KAN to ale tire cash la.. li mari rare to gagne Rs1000 note mid month ou juste avant la fin du mois. faut pas generaliser. and mo prefere sometimes gagne gros billet ki ene tas ti billets…en fait li depane kit o bizin faire


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