The managing director of Inlaks Group, Femi Adeoti has decried the poor number of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) across the country, saying the number is not encouraging the national drive to financial inclusion and ease of banking.
In an interview in Lagos, he told Business Hilights that “There are only 17,000 ATMs which mean we have one ATM to 5,600 people”.
“It looks we have gone far but we have more grounds to cover. Many people have mobile phones but they are among the 40 million people without bank account. We still have many more people without accounts”.
Adeoti revealed that about 61 per cent of adult Nigerian that are excluded from the formal financial systems are less than 65 years. “These people are upwardly mobile but they are not included”.
However, he noted that to bring these people into the formal financial system, the ATM, agent banking, mobile banking, e-wallet, internet banking, and call centre banking need to increase in number and spread to grow the inclusion drive of the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN).
