As yuletide begins to roll away, several bank customers who were frustrated with long queues, cases of network failures, rejection of cards and no-cash scenarios have called on the banking and e-payment regulatory agencies to come up with a policy that will compel all banks to install not less than five Automated teller Machines (ATMs) at every bank branch whether in the urban or rural areas at a time.
Throughout the festive season, investigations by Business Hilights correspondents’ across the country show that ATMs across the country were forced to work over and above their limits due to pressure from bank account holders who are scrambling for cash to run their festive days.
In unison, Nigerians are therefore calling on the Central Bank of Nigerian (CBN) to introduce a regulation that will mandate every bank branch to install not less than five ATM outlets so that issues of long queues will end during festive periods in banking premises.
Already, report has revealed that Nigeria remains more than 40,000 short of the number of ATM installations needed to serve its 180 million citizens, but has “come a long way,” according to a spokeswoman from the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NISS).
Various media reports have said large numbers of Nigerians have stood for hours in deep queues at ATMs, waiting for their turn to get cash.
However, consumers did manage to withdraw 3.5 trillion naira ($11.13 billion) from Nigeria’s approximately 17,253 ATMs from January through September, according to numbers from NIBSS.
It would be recalled that with its 2011 cash-less initiative, the Nigerian government set out to persuade citizens to bank their money, rather than carrying large amounts on their person or hiding it in their homes.
