In 2020, the publication of missing person appeals on ATM screens led to the recovery of eight missing people in Spain. This success is the result of a collaboration between AMBER Alert Europe members Euronet Worldwide and the Spanish National Centre for Missing Persons (CNDES) and Spanish NGO SOSDesaparecidos.
The publication of missing person appeals on the ATMs of Euronet Worldwide, a global financial technology solutions and payments provider, led to 458 phone calls from people who identified the disappeared after having seen their photos on the ATM screens. As a direct result of these phone calls, the Spanish Police were able to locate eight people.
“This partnership showcases perfectly how the help of vigilant citizens can be a lifesaving factor in the search for missing persons. At the Spanish National Centre for Missing Persons (CNDES), we give great value to both prevention and citizen collaboration, since through the latter, we are able to locate a greater number of missing persons”, says Mr. Javier López Gutiérrez, Director of CNDES.
Reach of millions of people across Europe
Euronet started the initiative with AMBER Alert Europe in 2019 in the Netherlands. This pilot project led to a pan-European agreement just a few months after it launched. From that successful start, Euronet now has agreements with national organisations in four European countries for the display of missing person appeals on its ATM screens, and more countries are expected to be added in the coming months. As ATMs are typically located in heavily trafficked areas, the appeals are potentially viewed by millions of users and passers-by each across Europe.
“We are extremely pleased that this initiative has such a positive impact on society,” says Nikos Fountas, EVP & CEO, EFT Americas and EMEA, at Euronet Worldwide. “The successful location of several persons made possible by the publication of active alerts on our ATM screens proves the ATM is a vital feature of our communities and serves them in multiple ways.”
