The Judge said the 58-year-old was spending $60 a week beyond her means on gambling and that she proposed to repay the victim by installments of $2 per week.
This was "not acceptable", Judge Adeane said.
He gave her two options, the first to be stood down in custody to complete an automatic payment authority to repay $50 a week, in which case she would be convicted and ordered to be called for sentencing if she reoffended in the next year.
The second option was to be remanded in custody until the New Year for further reports to be completed.
Ries spent a brief period in custody before being recalled when she informed the court through her lawyer, Scott Jefferson, that she was amenable to sign the reparation payment paperwork.
Judge Adeane said if she further offended or reparations payments were not duly paid she would be imprisoned.
The maximum penalty the theft charge carries is seven years' imprisonment and, while this was not intended as a sentence indication, it reflected the "seriousness" of the defendant's obligations in the coming 12 months, the Judge said.
Ries' victim was a 91-year-old woman who she had been friends with for a very long time.
In November last year the friend gave Ries her bank card and asked her to deposit a cheque and print off a bank statement for her.
In short succession withdrawals of $800, $500 and another $500 were taken from the Westpac ATM in the Maraenui Shopping Centre.
The victim realised the money was missing when she received her monthly bank statement the following month.
When spoken to by police Ries admitted using the card to print out a statement but denied taking money out of the victim's account and could offer no explanation as to how the first withdrawal was made at the same time the statement was printed.