A lot of Japan's economy is still cash-based. On common paydays like the 25th and (to a lesser extent) the 15th of the month you'll see long lines at the ATMs.

A lot of Japan's economy is still cash-based. On common paydays like the 25th and (to a lesser extent) the 15th of the month you'll see long lines at the ATMs. The heist happened on the 15th. The maximum withdrawal amount in this case is only about 1000 USD. Not that much. A lot of people will withdraw the max on the payday. And it was only 10 transactions per ATM in average, spread along 2 hours. To the extent that these ATMs are just terminals that serve a variety of networks, I wouldn't assume Seven Bank is at fault. The real WTF is how cards can still be cloned so easily, how they got the passwords, how the S.A. bank didn't notice a spike in transactions from Japan, etc.